By Humeyra Pamuk
TIRANA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that a deal on the release of hostages held by Hamas remains possible but “very hard” issues remain to be resolved.
Talks involving intelligence chiefs from the U.S., Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a deal that would see a pause in Israel’s four-month-old war in Gaza ended without a breakthrough on Tuesday.
Asked whether an agreement could be reached on a break in hostilities before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins on March 10, Blinken said an earlier response from Hamas on a potential deal had includes some “clear non-starters” but offered the possibility of working toward an agreement.
“We’re now in the process with our counterparts from Qatar, from Egypt, from Israel, in working on that and working very intensely on that with the goal of trying to find an agreement and I believe that it is possible,” Blinken said at a news conference during a visit to Albania.
“There are some very, very hard issues that have to be resolved. But we’re committed to doing everything we can to move forward and to see if we can reach an agreement,” Blinken said.
CIA director Bill Burns was in Israel on Thursday for further talks, according to a source familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; writing by Simon Lewis, editing by Deepa Babington)
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