The differences between Israel and Hamas can be bridged to achieve a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, US State Department Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Monday night.
“We believe that there are ways to bridge the divide between the two sides. That pertains to all of the remaining issues,” he said.
“I’m not going to get into how we would do that or what they might be, but that’s what we’re committed to trying to do,” Miller added.
He spoke as Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were in Washington for talks within the framework of the US and Israel joint Strategic Dialogue Forum.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Hanegbi and Dermer on Monday. They spoke about the hostage deal and day after-plan for the enclave with regard to security and governance, Miller explained.
“Specifically, they talked about the remaining sticking points” in the deal, Miller said.
The agreed upon framework
He referenced US President Joe Biden’s announcement on Friday that “a framework agreement” was agreed upon even though issues still need to be bridged.
“The Secretary raised the need to… do more to resolve logistical issues that are preventing humanitarian assistance from being fully delivered across the Gaza Strip,” Miller said.
The talks were held in the aftermath of the IDF’s attempted assassination of top Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif. Neither Israel nor the United States have been able to ascertain if Deif was killed in the strike.
Hamas initially indicated that the strike had halted the talks, and then zigzagged back to say that the negotiations could proceed, but the pace of the diplomacy around the negotiations has slowed down.
Israel has yet to dispatch another team to hold talks. It is also as of yet unclear if Mossad Chief David Barnea, who was in Doha last week for negotiation talks, would return this week.
Egypt and Qatar have been the two main mediating countries for the deal, with the help of the United States.Miller told reporters that talks were continuing and had not been stopped.
“The negotiations do continue,” he said, adding that Israel was committed to continuing them.
“We heard directly from two senior advisors to Prime Minister Netanyahu today… that Israel is still committed to reaching a ceasefire,” Miller said.
“Obviously, they want to protect their interests. We understand that as part of the negotiating process, but they do want to reach a ceasefire, and are committed to these to these negotiations,” Miller said.
Outside the issue of the talks, Blinken told Dermer and Hanegbi that the Biden administration remained concerned about the high casualty count in Gaza due to Israel’s military campaign to destroy Hamas.
Blinken expressed to Hanegbi and Dermer “our serious concern about the recent civilian casualties in Gaza,” Miller said.
Civilian casualties had been reduced, but “We continue to see far too many civilians killed in this conflict,” he said, adding that the need to put a halt to those fatalities was one of the reasons the US was pushing so hard for a Gaza ceasefire deal.
He defended Israeli military action in Gaza as well, noting that it was difficult for the IDF to reduce the Palestinian casualty count when Hamas fighters hide in schools, mosques, hospitals, and other civilian facilities.
“It makes the challenge that Israel faces incredibly difficult,” Miller said.