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WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is urging Israel to allow limited numbers of civilians displaced during the six-month-old Gaza conflict to return to the northern part of the enclave. This is a key remaining point of contention in cease-fire and hostage discussions, according to U.S., Israeli, and Egyptian officials.
The White House's behind-the-scenes efforts to address one of the major disagreements between Hamas and Israel underscore the new urgency the administration places on securing a deal to stop the fighting in Gaza.
This urgency follows a deadly Israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers on Monday.
President Biden, in a phone call on Thursday, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address this issue. Biden also called for an immediate cease-fire and for Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to reach a deal, according to U.S. officials.
During the tense half-hour call, Biden also urged Netanyahu to take immediate steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.
The White House stated that U.S. policy regarding Gaza would be based on its assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps.
Israel has agreed to allow the use of the Ashdod port in southern Israel for the delivery of aid to Gaza and to open the Erez border crossing, which has been closed since the October 7 attacks, as a new route for aid to reach northern Gaza.
Israel will also allow a significant increase in deliveries from Jordan into Gaza, according to the U.S.
U.S. officials stated that a breakthrough in the stop-and-start talks would greatly expand aid to Gaza's beleaguered population.
An agreement to allow civilians to return to the north could alleviate U.S. concerns about an Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where over a million civilians, along with Hamas militants, have taken refuge.
"As Israel conducts any military operations against Hamas, it must prioritize the protection of civilians. That must be its top priority," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday.
"Their safety must be a priority, and military operations must be designed to protect them, not the other way around."
According to Arab mediators involved in the talks, Israel is open to allowing returns to the north at a rate of 2,000 people per day, mainly women and children. A proposal deemed acceptable by Israel could see a maximum of 60,000 Palestinians returning, but this would mostly exclude men aged 18 to 50 years.
The return of displaced Gazans could begin 10 days to two weeks after a six-week cease-fire is implemented, Arab officials said.
They would have to pass through Israeli military checkpoints to prevent armed Hamas militants from returning to the north to resume attacks on Israeli troops, according to Israeli and Egyptian officials.
However, Hamas has not accepted these terms.
They want the checkpoints removed and insist that families returning to the north remain intact, to prevent Israel from turning away adult males.
CIA Director William Burns is expected in Cairo for another round of cease-fire and hostage discussions this weekend.
His presence, as someone trusted by Biden, could provide bridging solutions and encourage the two sides to reach an agreement.
On Friday, Biden sent letters to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks along with the U.S., urging them to secure a commitment from Hamas to agree to and honor a deal, a senior Biden administration official said.
Despite months of military operations and negotiations aimed at their release, more than 100 Israeli hostages, many of whom are believed to be dead, remain in the captivity of Gaza militants.
Israel has yet to locate Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who helped orchestrate the October 7 attack.
Israel's invasion of Gaza followed an attack by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S., on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel's military response has resulted in the deaths of more than 32,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
These figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The focus on the cease-fire negotiations is part of a broader effort by the White House to turn one of the low points in the U.S.-Israeli relationship—the Israeli military's attack on a convoy from the World Central Kitchen that killed seven aid workers—into an opportunity to reduce the fighting in Gaza.
The negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release present a range of difficult issues, including how to ensure that northern Gaza is safe for civilians to return and free of unexploded ordnance.
United Nations and other international experts estimate that 60% of the structures in Gaza are either destroyed or damaged to the point of being uninhabitable.
The situation in northern Gaza is likely worse, they say, and the challenge is compounded by a lack of basic utilities and water.
The provision of adequate shelter for the gradual return of 60,000 residents could be managed, according to international experts, with sufficient lead time and the establishment of a secure environment, which would be possible if a cease-fire were holding.
Israel is awaiting a response from Hamas regarding compromise ideas that have been considered, according to a senior Israeli official familiar with the negotiations.
Israeli officials argue that they are being asked to make more concessions than their share and suggest that Qatar could pressure Hamas to compromise further by closing the organization's bank accounts and expelling Hamas officials.
The U.S. is looking to Israel to allow for a surge of humanitarian relief into Gaza by using the new aid routes it has promised to open or expand.
Gaza's roughly 2.2 million people need at least 250 aid trucks each day, but only a trickle of aid is currently entering the enclave.
U.S. and U.N. officials have said that the risk of famine inside Gaza is now acute, and it has worsened after several groups suspended operations following the deadly Israeli drone attack on the aid workers from the World Central Kitchen.
Northern Gaza, which has been the site of U.S. airdrops, has urgent needs. The U.S. is pushing for at least 100 trucks a day to carry assistance there and for the restoration of water pipes and desalination capability.