WASHINGTON: The White House welcomed on Monday (Apr 8) the arrival on Sunday of more than 300 aid trucks in Gaza, but said it was pressing Israel to increase that number to around 350 a day, as talks continued on a hostage-ceasefire deal.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said CIA Director William Burns was in Cairo over the weekend for a serious round of negotiations on securing the release of hostages being held in Gaza by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The United States hopes to forge a deal that would include a ceasefire of around six weeks in Israel’s six-month-old assault to destroy Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
Asked if there was any reason to be more optimistic about a hostage deal, Kirby told reporters: “It should be plainly obvious just by the amount of shuttle diplomacy we’re doing and our counterparts are doing, we’re taking this very, very seriously. And we really want to come to closure on a hostage deal as soon as possible.”
Hamas killed 1,200 people in its rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s response, the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said on Monday. Israel’s army says more than 600 of its soldiers have been killed in combat.
Source: CNA
