WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A last-minute glitch surfaced on Thursday in the details of the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal and U.S. envoys are working to resolve it, a U.S. official said.
The dispute was over the identities of several prisoners that Hamas is demanding to be released, the official said. The official said the issue is expected to be resolved soon.
Working on the issue is President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, and President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. They are both in Doha with Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, the official said.
“We’re aware of these issues and we are working through them with the Israeli government, as well as other partners in the region. We are confident these implementing details can be hammered out and that the deal will move forward this weekend,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said separately.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday, is supposed to begin to be implemented on Sunday.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
