U.S., EU leaders urge cease-fire, hostage release in Gaza

France, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom on Monday added support to a call by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States to renew talks toward cease-fire in Gaza. Talks should restart this week and a deal should concluded as soon as possible, leaders agreed. The leaders of the European countries also called for Israel and Hamas to release hostages and end hostilities. Finally, they called for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Israel tranferred nearly 200 aid trucks into Gaza on Monday alone, according to the Israeli government.

Did the countries call for anything else? U.S. President Joe Biden and the European leaders also called for Iran to back down from threats to attack Israel, saying such an attack would have drastic consequences for the region. All parties agreed to support Israel in defending itself against attacks by Iran and its proxy forces.

What has Israel said about a cease-fire in the region? Last week, Israel said it would send a negotiation team to an agreed-upon location on Thursday to resume talks, per the proposal by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. But Israel wasn’t backing down from the requirements of a cease-fire agreement it set earlier this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday. Hamas had proposed revisions to that earlier agreement, Netanyahu said.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report from yesterday in The Sift about U.S. efforts to reinforce Israel before an expected Iranian attack.