The efforts to secure a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas have not made any progress over the past week, since the last round of negotiations led by Egypt fell apart, says White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“I can’t, sadly, sit here and tell you that we’re closer right now than than we were a week or so ago. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop working on it,” Kirby tells reporters during a briefing.
Kirby reiterates that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made significant progress toward a major bilateral security agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia during his weekend visit to the Gulf kingdom.
“We have achieved a near-final set of text on some of those bilateral agreements,” Kirby says.
However, he acknowledges that the same cannot be said to the Palestinian component on which the entire initiative is contingent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the establishment of a pathway to a future Palestinian state, which likely makes the entire US effort moot.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 20, 2024
