Biden says Israel has offered Hamas a new ceasefire deal: President lays out three stages to try and end Gaza war, including release of all hostages
President Joe Biden on Friday called on Hamas to accept a peace deal offered by the Israelis, saying that “it is time for the war to end.”
He outlined a three-phase plan that would begin with an immediate ceasefire, release all hostages and end with the reconstruction of Gaza.
“Hamas is no longer in a position to have another October 7,” Biden said in remarks in the East Room of the White House, urging the terror group to “accept the deal.”
“This is truly a defining moment,” Biden said. “Israel has made its proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is a chance to prove whether they really mean business.”
“It is time to begin this new phase,” he noted. “It’s time for this war to end and the next day to begin.”
“This is truly a defining moment,” President Biden said. “Israel has made its proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is a chance to prove whether they really mean business.”
The war began with Hamas’s sudden attack on Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped about 250. Israel says about 100 hostages are still trapped in Gaza, along with the bodies of about 30 others.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government responded with an attack on the Gaza Strip, home to the Hamas group.
Biden made his case for a peace deal as Israeli forces entered the center of Rafah and pushed deeper into the southern Gaza city filled with at least a million Palestinian refugees, despite international opposition and pressure from allies to scale back the attack.
“Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It is a roadmap to a lasting ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” the president said.
He outlined the three phases:
The first would last six weeks and would include a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all “populated areas of Gaza” and the release of “a number” of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded. Some of them are Americans.
It would also include the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the return of the remains of killed hostages, 600 aid trucks per day and the start of phase two talks.
Phase two is a “permanent end to hostilities,” Biden said, adding that many details remain to be negotiated. It would also include an exchange of all remaining living hostages.
The phase one ceasefire would last longer than six weeks if negotiations are still ongoing.
The third phase would be the reconstruction of Gaza.
Biden pledged that the United States will “work with our partners to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza” and “help rebuild communities destroyed in the chaos of war.”
Palestinians carry some salvaged belongings with them as they leave the Jabalia refugee camp
Israeli tanks drive along the border with the Gaza Strip on May 29
Previous peace talks have been hampered by a central sticking point: Hamas’s demand for guarantees that the war will end and that Israeli forces will withdraw completely from Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages.
It is a demand that Israel rejects.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned that the people of Gaza are facing famine. They have also seen the massive destruction of their homes, hospitals and infrastructure.
The recent Israeli invasion of Gaza has cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies that Palestinians need.
They also seized the entire border between Gaza and Egypt, through which humanitarian aid was coming.
Israel claims that Hamas terrorists are hiding among the general population, making the destruction necessary.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 80,000 injured in the Israeli campaign during the nearly eight-month war.