Looming over the hostage deal discussions is the threat by Israel to launch an offensive into Rafah in southern Gaza, where around 1.5 million displaced Gazans have fled. Israel appears dug inAs Israel appears dug in its position, negotiators expect Hamas to again respond in the coming days. The first hostage deal in late November saw the return of dozens of hostages taken captive by Hamas on October 7 and a week-long truce. Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have continued to argue that “complete victory” is needed over Hamas. Supporting Tuesday’s UN resolution, proposed by Algeria, in the middle of the ongoing hostage talks would have jeopardized the ceasefire talks, White House said.

---

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Ramadan, Israel, ”, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Joe Biden’s, Brett McGurk, Bill Burns ’, ” Gal Hirsch, Majed Al, Ansari, ” Al, Benny Gantz, White, “, John Kirby, – Organizations: CNN, Israel, CIA, Munich Security, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “ Qatar, United Nations, UN, Senior, United Nations Security Locations: Israel, Gaza, Rafah, Qatar, Egypt, United States, Cairo, Doha, Algeria