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Biden pushes to secure Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement by next week

Biden says they're closer than they have ever been to a cease-fire but doesn't "want to jinx anything"

Senior Culture Editor

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US President Joe Biden takes a phone call as he walks to board Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 16, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden takes a phone call as he walks to board Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 16, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

As President Joe Biden's time in office comes to an end, there are several things he's hoping to wrap-up before he hands the keys over — one of them being securing a cease-fire agreement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has led to a Palestinian death toll surpassing 40,000 during the 10-month-old war, according to AP News

On Friday, mediators from the U.S., Israel, Qatar, Egypt and Hamas concluded two days of talks in Doha, Qatar, with a joint statement from Washington, Doha and Cairo describing the efforts towards an end to the bloody conflict as serious, constructive and “conducted in a positive atmosphere,” per reporting from The Hill

Commenting on the work put in towards nailing down the cease-fire agreement, Biden spoke from the Oval Office saying, “I don’t want to jinx anything … we’re not there yet. But we’re much, much closer than we were three days ago."

If all goes well, the Biden Administration hopes to tie a bow on the agreement before the end of next week, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Israel on Sunday with hopes to finalize it. 

“It has been negotiated for months, and we do believe very strongly, and there’s momentum here in this process, to work to bring this to its conclusion,” a senior administration official said on Friday.

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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