White House Says Gaza Deal ‘Closer Than We’ve Been’

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – With talks on a ceasefire deal for the war in Gaza in what U.S. officials have called an “endgame,” phase and conflicting reports as to how close Israel and Hamas are to an agreement, The Cipher Brief spoke Friday with White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby about the state of what he called an “all-hands” effort to nail down a deal.

CIA Director Bill Burns and U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk are representing the U.S. at talks in Cairo, along with negotiators from Israel, Egypt and Qatar. Kirby said at a National Security Council briefing earlier Friday that Hamas negotiators were not present.