US national security adviser Jake Sullivan says in an interview with NBC that negotiations are still ongoing, and that Egypt and Qatar will have to have indirect talks with Hamas about the understanding. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Photo: Reuters Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that work is underway on a hostage agreement, but that it is still too early to say that an agreement is in the offing. Sullivan also said in the interview that the US believes that Israel must not go on the offensive in Rafah until there is a plan to secure civilians. Israel is still insisting on an offensive against Rafah and said on Sunday that “once the offensive is over, Israel will be only weeks away from total victory”. Deadline by Ramadan Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the US have been negotiating a ceasefire and hostage agreement in Paris in recent weeks. On Sunday, the intelligence chiefs who negotiated for Israel briefed Netanyahu’s war cabinet on the negotiations. A member of Israel’s war cabinet, Benny Gantz, warned last Sunday that unless Hamas releases all hostages held in Gaza by March 10, it will begin sending ground forces into Rafah. Palestinians lift out an injured person after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Friday 24 February. Photo: Reuters 10 March is the same date as when the Muslim holiday of Ramadan begins. According to international aid organisations, such as Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross, over 1.5 million Palestinians are gathered in the small border town in the south of the Gaza Strip. Several countries in the Middle East have repeatedly warned that an Israeli offensive in Rafah. Hamas is still holding around 130 hostages in Gaza, Israel believes. However, it is uncertain how many of them have died. One wants to return to his hometown, another wants to buy a Coke and a third wants to bury his grandchild if there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
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