On August 12th local time, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy issued a joint statement calling for the resumption of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. According to a statement released by the White House, the leaders of the five countries discussed the situation in the Middle East and expressed their full support for efforts to ease the Gaza conflict, achieve a ceasefire, and release detainees. The five governments agreed to restart ceasefire negotiations later this week and called on all parties to fulfill their responsibilities and reach a ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.