©Reuters. Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, seen from Israel, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
By Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States continues to believe that obstacles in talks to reach a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are not insurmountable and that an agreement can be reached, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday .
In a daily press briefing, Miller said Israel has put a serious proposal on the table, which is for Hamas to accept and engage in good faith to demonstrate that it wants to reach an agreement.
“We continue to believe that the obstacles are not insurmountable and that an agreement can be reached … so we will continue to push to get one,” Miller said.
Asked whether he would agree with the characterization that talks are at an impasse, Miller said: “They are ongoing.”
Negotiators from Palestinian militants, Qatar and Egypt – but not Israel – are trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.
A temporary ceasefire would allow some hostages captured by Palestinian militants in the October 7 attack that precipitated the war to free themselves, while aid to Gaza would be increased and families could return to abandoned homes.
Hamas has pledged to continue taking part in the Cairo talks, but officials from the militant group have said a ceasefire must be in place before the hostages are freed, Israeli forces must leave Gaza and all Gazans they must be able to return to the homes from which they fled.
Asked what alternative plan the United States has if ceasefire talks fail, Miller said Washington was working to reach a truce agreement.
“We are pushing for a successful conclusion to these talks,” Miller said.
Israeli forces have continued to shell the Palestinian enclave since talks began in Cairo on Sunday, and the dire humanitarian situation in the densely populated coastal strip has deteriorated further.
About 250 humanitarian trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings, Miller said. There has been some improvement in aid distribution, but not enough aid has yet entered Gaza, he said.
“We need to dramatically see more come in,” Miller said. “Not just through Rafah and Kerem Shalom, but we have to see it come through a crossing in the north and we have made it very clear to the Israeli government that this is what we expect.”