US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he’s “hopeful” a hostage deal can be reached soon.
Rubio says he spoke last night to US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff who told him that proximity talks will begin fairly soon.
Proximity talks began on Sunday, though, so it’s unclear what Rubio meant.
“We’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while,” Rubio says, adding that “one of the fundamental challenges is Hamas’s unwillingness to disarm, which would end this conflict immediately.”
But this is not one of the issues currently being discussed, as it has to do with the terms for a permanent ceasefire, which won’t be discussed until the sides reach an agreement on the 60-day truce still being negotiated.
On Tuesday, The Times of Israel revealed that Witkoff had delayed his planned departure for Doha that day in what was seen as a signal that the talks were not yet ripe for finalization.
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