Next 48 hours key in ceasefire talks, says ex-Egypt official

A former Egyptian assistant foreign minister has said that a ceasefire deal in Gaza had been agreed "in principle" by all parties, but that "differences of opinion remain". 

Hussein Haridi told Al-Jazeera on Thursday: "There are some disagreements definitely between the Israelis and Hamas’s people, but we believe these differences are reachable. So we are waiting for the next 48 hours to see whether the technical teams negotiating the details would succeed in bringing to fruition and bringing to the finish line this agreement."

Haridi said that Israel was losing "economically [and] financially" and that Palestinians were suffering, and therefore it was in everyone's interest to secure a truce. 

"The Biden administration and Kamala Harris need a ceasefire agreement in place in Gaza in order to sell it to the American public opinion," he added.