Biden says US pushing for second deal on hostages

New deal on Gaza hostages draws closer but talks on ceasefire stall

- Julian Borger

The prospect of a second hostage deal between Israel and Gaza appeared to draw a step closer with the visit of a Hamas leader to Egypt yesterday. But a vote on a UN resolution calling for a lengthier ceasefire and more aid deliveries faces more delay.

The diplomacy rolled on as the official estimate of the death toll in Gaza passed 20,000, according to the Hamas government media office, with 8,000 children and 6,200 women among the dead as hunger and disease threaten to add to the death rate significantly.

The arrival in Egypt of Ismail Haniyeh, a Qatar-based Hamas political leader, was seen as a sign of a possible truce. His previous visit came before the first deal last month, which involved the release of 110 hostages and a week-long ceasefire.

A leader of Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group also holding hostages in Gaza, is also expected to arrive in Egypt today for talks on which hostages would be freed and for how many Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.

However, the two sides remained far apart on the question over the lull in fighting to accompany a prisoner exchange. Hamas officials made clear they wanted it to mark the start of a longer truce, while Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he only saw it as a short pause in a continuing military campaign to destroy Hamas militarily and as a political force in Gaza.

“We’re pushing it,” Joe Biden said when asked about the hostage talks, but he cautioned: “There’s no expectation at this point.”

Later in the day, the White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said: “These are very serious discussions and negotiations and we hope that they lead somewhere.”