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According to White House National Security Coordinator John Kirby, the United States looks forward to an in-person meeting with Israeli officials in the “next week or so.” This development follows a virtual meeting and the cancellation of an initial Israeli delegation visit to the US, intended for discussions about operations in Rafah.

“We had a virtual meeting last week. We expect to have an in-person meeting with Israeli counterparts in the next week or so. We’re still narrowing down the schedule,” Kirby stated during an interview with CBS News’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.” This statement sets the stage for the anticipated face-to-face dialogue after a period of heightened tension, marked by the US’s abstention from a UN Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire during Ramadan.

Kirby expressed hope for the upcoming meeting, aiming to “present in more detail, our thinking, some of our alternatives, the kinds of things that we want them to learn from our own experiences, about how to do operations of this regard.”

The backdrop to these discussions includes a controversial moment when the US abstained from voting on a resolution that demanded a ceasefire and the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” Kirby addressed the confusion this decision caused, emphasizing, “It’s a nonbinding resolution. So, there’s no impact at all on Israel and Israel’s ability to continue to go after Hamas.” He further clarified, “It does not represent a change at all in our policy. It’s very consistent with everything that we’ve been saying we want to get done here.”

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