The White House released a joint statement on Thursday night with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar urging Hamas and Israel to return to ceasefire negotiations after days of intense discussions as the region braces for possible attacks from both Iran and Hezbollah.
A senior administration official said President Biden's calls with el-Sisi and Al Thani delved into the hostage release process.
"Out of those calls came the very constructive proposal to issue a joint statement from the leaders of both Qatar and Egypt. Obviously, a statement from the three leaders is unusual, but we think significant," according to the official.
As the administration has now maintained for weeks, the senior official said the gaps in the negotiations are bridgeable.
The official said the US, Egypt, and Cairo are prepared to present "a final bridging proposal to really resolve the remaining implementation issues in the manner that we think would meet the expectations of all the parties and help bring this to a conclusion."
The three mediating nations are calling for Hamas and Israeli negotiators to meet either in Doha or Cairo next Thursday to resume ceasefire discussions, the senior administration official said.
'Bulk of work is done'
"We think the bulk of the work has been done, and the deal is really there," the official said. "With some force of will and sitting down to hash it out, we think it is both possible, urgent, necessary, essential; whatever word you want to use."
According to the official, Israel has indicated they are receptive to resuming talks.
If talks resume next week, the official noted that the agreement likely wouldn't be signed on Thursday as both Hamas and Israel have "firm positions" on about four or five issues.
"If you just look at them, they might be unbridgeable, but you treat each issue one by one, and with each one there's some trade space, you can kind of find a way forward," the official said.
The official said the White House is confident based on its consultations with Israel and the Egyptians.
"We have lives on the line, particularly the hostages, and we have to get these hostages out. It's time to close this," the official said. "That is the President's very firm view. He's made that very clear, both to Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, but also to his counterparts in Cairo and Doha, who are the mediators on the Hamas side."
The official noted the administration is also "dealing with a broader situation in the region" preparing defenses should an attack come.
While the officials wouldn't delve into the specifics of the administration's messaging to Iran, they said the White House sees "no legitimate basis whatsoever for Iran to launch a military attack against Israel
The official said the US has moved "an awful lot of military force into the region," including the F-22s that arrived on Thursday.
"We're going to be ready for all contingencies," the official added, noting the consequences of such a direct attack could be quite significant for Iran and its economy.
The White House is doing all it can to deter such an attack, defeat an attack if it does come, and demonstrate to Iran there's a better path forward than a military attack, the official said.
"If [Iran] launches a major war in the Middle East with some massive attack on Israel, which they're threatening in coordination with other groups, well, that's obviously going to significantly jeopardize any hope of getting a ceasefire in Gaza," the official added.