The White House insists it still “sees” a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and exerts pressure on Tel Aviv, even though Israel sees no progress. “Talks aimed at reaching a Gaza hostage truce continue, and Israel and Hamas are close enough to an agreement to close the ‘gaps,'” White House spokeswoman Karin Zhan said on Wednesday. -Pierre.

The US official told reporters on Air Force One, while Joe Biden was flying to Wisconsin, that “President Biden has confidence in his team that is helping the negotiations.”

The head of the CIA William Burns is currently in Israel, and met the Prime Minister earlier Benjamin Netanyahu with the aim of promoting negotiations.

The director of the CIA was in Israel with the aim of possible suspension of the Israeli operation in Rafahthe town in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, in exchange for the release of hostages, an Israeli official said.

Israel he sees no signs of progress in the Egyptian-brokered talks on a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would lead to the release of some hostages held in Gaza, an Israeli official clarified. It currently maintains a delegation of negotiators in Cairo, he clarified.

The US embassy in Jerusalem had no comment on Burns’ visit, but the Americans are pressing Israel.

President Biden’s decision to suspend the delivery of ammunition to Israel was made in the context of Israel’s plans to launch an attack on Rafah that Washington opposes without new political safeguards, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

“We were very clear… right from the start that Israel he shouldn’t launch a big attack on Rafa without being accountable and protecting the civilians on that battlefield. Again, as we assessed the situation, we stopped a shipment of high-payload munitions,” he told a Senate hearing.

“We haven’t made a final decision on how to proceed with this mission,” Austin explained.

The Israeli military has tried to downplay the suspension of US-made ammunition shipments to Israel. Commenting on the issue, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the allies were resolving their differences “behind closed doors.”

“About 50,000 people” they left the city of Rapha in southern Gaza the last 48 hours after Israel’s evacuation order, a senior official of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) told CNN in the meantime.

“We have observed around 50,000 people leaving Rafah in the last 48 hours. We’ve seen them going to Khan Younis, some have gone to the extended humanitarian area of ​​Al-Mawasi, others have gone to Deir al-Balah,” UNRWA’s senior deputy director of Gaza affairs, Scott Anderson, told CNN.

Gazans began fleeing eastern Rafah on Monday after the Israeli army ordered residents to “evacuate immediately” as it conducts a military operation in the city.

“We believe as the UN that people should choose where they want to go and we will provide assistance wherever they decide to seek refuge with their families,” he said.

When asked about the expanded humanitarian area Israel has designated in the coastal town of Al-Mawasi for displaced Gazans to take refuge, Anderson said the area “It certainly doesn’t have the infrastructure who would expect,” adding that there are already over 400,000 people seeking refuge there.

“It’s essentially a sandy area, so there’s no sewage infrastructure, no water infrastructure. There are no roads leading to it.”

Anderson also said that people fleeing to Khan Younis will be arriving in an area already devastated by war.

He emphasized that the arrival of more humanitarian aid is a primary concern for his organization.