(CNN) — President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday about “the ceasefire and hostage release deal and diplomatic efforts to de-escalate regional tensions,” White House spokesperson Emilie Simons posted on X.
Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call, which came at a critical moment in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week in Israel that it may be the last opportunity for a deal.
Biden made the call from Santa Ynez, California where he is vacationing this week.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu was reported to have said “there might not be” a hostage and ceasefire deal and insisted that Israel Defense Forces troops will remain in the Philadelphi corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border and not withdraw. That has been a significant sticking point in the ongoing negotiations.
Officials from the different parties have been meeting this week to keep ironing out the details of an agreement after the US, Egypt and Qatar put forward a proposal late last week to bridge the remaining gaps. CIA Director Bill Burns and other senior negotiators are expected to return to Cairo for further high-level talks this weekend.
Blinken said Tuesday that despite reported comments from Netanyahu, Israel has agreed to withdrawals of IDF forces from Gaza that are laid out in the recent mediators’ proposal to get closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“The agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of IDF withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that,” said Blinken in remarks to reporters before departing Qatar.
Blinken and other US officials have declined to detail the proposal the US laid out last week. The ceasefire deal is structured in three phases and would eventually include the full withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. But Israeli officials have repeatedly insisted that a solution must be found to better control the Egypt-Gaza border, which has long been used for smuggling.
The location of troops in the Philadelphi corridor and the question of whether Palestinians will be able to return home in the north have been two of the biggest hurdles in the ceasefire negotiations. Hamas has insisted that the IDF withdraw fully from Gaza and that citizens must be allowed to return home.
Blinken said that Netanyahu told him directly in their meeting that Israel agreed to “the bridging proposal and thus the detailed plan” for withdrawal.
A US senior administration official strongly pushed back on Netanyahu’s comments about not withdrawing, calling them “maximalist statements” that are “not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line.”
Blinken was speaking in Qatar at the end of a short trip to the region as the US makes what it hopes is a final push for all sides to agree to ceasefire agreement that would halt the fighting in Gaza and free the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
The top US diplomat said Monday in Israel that the onus was now on Hamas to also agree to the latest proposal to bridge the outstanding issues.
Following top-level meetings in Doha last week, follow on negotiations meant to hammer out the final details of a potential agreement between Hamas and Israel have continued with experts from the different sides.
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