Cairo talks on Gaza ceasefire constructive — WH

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby welcomed on Friday the progress of the talks that resumed last night in Cairo by the United States, Egypt and Israel on ceasefire on Gaza Strip. National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk is taking part in the negotiations. "They had constructive discussions --, and those discussions are going to continue today. (CIA) Director (William J.) Burns is there today to join those discussions," Kirby said at a press gaggle on Friday. "So, the process is actually moving forward. It's moving forward in the way we had outlined earlier in terms of these next rounds of talks. "Now, what's critical is that everybody participate in these talks and that sides continue to work towards implementation; that everybody comes to these discussions with an eye towards actually closing out these implementation details and getting after it," Kirby pointed out. "And so, again, early signs in Cairo - and these are early sign s - is that the discussions have been constructive. "But there's more talks to come here over the course of the weekend," he said, affirming that "things are moving forward." Refuting recent press reports that the talks were near collapse, he said, "That is not accurate. There has been progress made. We need now for both sides (Israel and Hamas) to come together and work towards implementation. Source: Kuwait News Agency