US denies reports about truce deal in Gaza
ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency
Sun / 19 November 2023 / 11:04
The White House National Security Council spokeswoman denies a five-day truce agreement between the Palestine and Israel has been reached.
Tehran (ISNA) - The United States said Saturday it was still working to secure a deal between the Israel and Hamas after a reported tentative agreement to free women and children held captives in Gaza in exchange for a five-day truce, Al-Mayadeen reports.
"We have not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal," White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on X, in response to The Washington Post reporting a deal had been agreed.
The Washington Post said a detailed, six-page agreement could mean captive releases begin within days and could also lead to the first sustained pause in the fighting between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli forces.
Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said Israel and the Palestine would halt "combat operations" for at least five days while an initial 50 or more captives are released in smaller batches every 24 hours, with overhead surveillance monitoring movement to police the pause.
According to the report, "It was not immediately clear how many of the 239 people believed to be in captivity in Gaza would be released under the deal."
It highlighted that "the stop in fighting is also intended to allow a significant increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance, including fuel, to enter the besieged enclave from Egypt."
The Post cited Arab and other diplomats as saying that "the outline of a deal was put together during weeks of talks in Doha, Qatar among Israel, the United States and Hamas, indirectly represented by Qatari mediators."
"It remained unclear until now that Israel would agree to temporarily pause its offensive in Gaza, provided the conditions were right," the newspaper noted.
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