White House Reports Progress in Gaza Cease-fire Talks

A White House spokesman said Friday there has been progress made in Gaza cease-fire talks in Cairo as intensive fighting continues between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas militants in the embattled enclave.

In an off-camera briefing Friday, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the talks had been “constructive” and said all sides, including Hamas, need to come together to work toward implementing a proposed agreement.

Kirby said the talks were continuing Friday, with CIA Director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk representing the United States.

Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a delegation from the country was in Cairo to resume efforts to salvage a cease-fire deal. The talks include negotiators from Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, but not Hamas.

Earlier in the week, Hamas indicated it would not take part in this week’s talks because the so-called “bridge agreement” reached last week by mediators contained additional demands from Israel it found unacceptable.

Kirby said Friday despite their objections, Hamas should be there. "We're in Cairo. They're in Cairo. We need Hamas to participate, and we need to get down to the brass tacks of locking in these details.” He indicated the talks would continue through the weekend.

Kirby also said Friday the U.S. believes Iran is still prepared to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, which it blames on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the accusation.

The NSC spokesman told reporters the U.S. continues to monitor Iran and “Is not taking anything for granted."

Earlier Friday, the U.S. Defense Department released details of a phone conversation held late Thursday between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.

In a readout of the call, the defense department said the two discussed continued exchanges of fire on the Israel-Lebanon border between Israel and Hezbollah militants, and the risk of escalation from Iran, Hezbollah and Iran-backed terrorist groups across the Middle East.

In the statement, Austin reiterated that the U.S. continues to monitor attack planning from Iran and its proxies and has established a defense posture across the region to defend Israel and protect U.S. personnel and facilities.

The department said Austin underscored the importance of finalizing a cease-fire deal and the release of all hostages, including eight Americans, held captive by Hamas in Gaza. The statement said the two also discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need to address the potential spread of polio.

On Friday, fighting continued across central Gaza. Tank shelling and gunfire could be heard in a video recorded by The Associated Press showing deserted streets and buildings near eastern Deir al-Balah.

Also Friday, Israel's military released video it said shows a strike on a Hezbollah militant cell in southern Lebanon. The military said in a statement that a Hezbollah cell was planning to fire projectiles from the area of Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon.

The army said that after the strike “a projectile launch was identified from the area, indicating the presence of weapons and rockets.” Israel and Hezbollah have traded near-daily strikes for more than 10 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah’s ally, Hamas, in Gaza.

The war began with the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages.

Gaza health officials say Israeli airstrikes and ground operations have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters.

Nearly three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million population is displaced, and nearly the entire population is at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.