White House won't get info specifics on cease-fire deal
The White House was careful not to get into specifics on the "extraordinarily generous" cease-fire proposal Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to earlier this morning, refusing to give specifics as they continued to call on Hamas to accept the proposal.
"I'm not going to characterize the proposal. I'm not going to get into any of the specifics. What we believe is that now is the time for Hamas to take this deal. It is on the table. It is time to, it is way past time to get these hostages home. It is way past time to get to a ceasefire and we need to make sure we continue to get that humanitarian aid," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre noted that Israel "has a lot on their plate," but expressed a desire for an in-person meeting to take place, in addition to the two virtual meetings the U.S. and Israel have had in recent weeks.
"We would like to have an in-person meeting. That is certainly what we would like to do, but in the meantime, we’ve had two important virtual meetings and in the readout, yesterday, we mentioned that the potential Rafah operations did come up between the two leaders in their conversation," she said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also spoke to President Joe Biden Monday about ongoing Gaza talks and Egyptian efforts to reach a cease-fire and hostage deal in a phone call, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.
The call discussed the risks of an Israeli incursion into Rafah, including the "catastrophic" impact on the worsening humanitarian crisis, and implications for the security and stability of the region, the statement added.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Ayat Al-Tawy