US Pres. discusses Gaza truce talks with Israeli PM

US President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister of the Israeli occupation Benjamin Netanyahu for about 30 minutes on Friday to discuss the details of the negotiations on release of hostages and ceasefire in Gaza Strip. The President and the Prime Minister walked through the draft agreement and outstanding issues, most of which now relate specifically to the implementation of the agreement, a senior US administration official said. "The President, of course, has been personally engaged in this negotiation for months, including multiple calls with President (Abdulfattah Al-) Sisi, of Egypt, and the Amir of Qatar, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu and other leaders around the world," the official said. "Over the last 24 hours or so, the President and his team - national security team - were involved in the hostage talks, studied the response received through Qatari mediators from Hamas earlier this week, a couple days ago. "It's clear that this response moves the process forward and may provide the basis fo r closing a deal. "This deal, as you know, would see hostages come home in the first phase - all women, men over 50, sick and wounded - together with a full ceasefire, relief for the civilians of Gaza, including a massive surge in humanitarian assistance that the ceasefire would enable, together with rehabilitation of essential services, including bakeries, water lines, medical facilities, and the entry of heavy equipment for the removal of rubble," the official added. Source: Kuwait News Agency