White House national security spokesperson John Kirby informed reporters that talks would continue on Friday with CIA Director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk representing the United States.
Kirby emphasized the need for Hamas to join the negotiations, which on Thursday included representatives from Israel, the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar, but excluded Hamas.
“We’re in Cairo, and so are they. We need Hamas to participate and focus on finalizing the details,” Kirby stated. “That’s our goal for the coming days and the weekend.”
While Kirby noted that the early indications from Cairo were positive, he assured that the discussions are making progress and dismissed reports suggesting that the talks were on the verge of collapsing.
