US opposed to long stay of Israeli forces in Gaza

The US White House, renewing support to the efforts aiming to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza Strip, affirmed opposition to long-term deployment of the Israeli occupation forces along the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt. Commenting on the ceasefire talks, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said, "We are still in constant consultations with Qatar, Egypt and Israel. And of course, Qatar and Egypt are in touch with Hamas." "The President (Joe Biden) himself is personally involved in working with our team and in working with leaders around the world to secure this deal, and that's what we're focused on. And the killing over the weekend just underscores the sense of urgency that we have to have in order to get it to closure," he noted at a press gaggle on Wednesday. Asked about "the exact US position regarding the Philadelphi Corridor," Kirby said, "The deal (proposed by the US in late May) says that they have to remove IDF (Israeli defense forces) from all densely populat ed areas in phase one, and that includes densely populated areas around - or adjacent to the Philadelphi Corridor, or where it intersects with those densely populated areas." "President (Biden) has in numerous conversations with the Prime Minister, as well as our counterparts in Qatar and Egypt, stressed the importance of doing everything we can to actualize, to conclude the proposal that, again, was an Israeli proposal agreed to at the end of May. "-- he charged his team over the weekend to do everything that they could to see what we can do to get this over the finish line.-- We are close enough that that is possible. We believe that it's an outcome that can be achieved. "But as I've said many times: In order to do that, it requires compromise and it requires leadership from everybody, Kirby added. Source: Kuwait News Agency