Washington: US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the nine-month-long conflict between Israel and Hamas "should end now" and that both sides had agreed to his ceasefire framework, although some gaps remained. He also expressed his opposition to an Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip after the war ends as a post-war scenario remains unclear.
"That framework is now agreed on by both Israel and Hamas. So I sent my team to the region to hammer out the details," Biden said in a news conference after the high-profile NATO Summit. "These are difficult, complex issues. There are still gaps to close. We're making progress. The trend is positive. I'm determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war, which should end now."
Biden in late May detailed a proposal of three phases aimed at achieving a ceasefire, the release of hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the rebuilding of the coastal enclave. CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk were in the Middle East this week meeting with regional counterparts to discuss the ceasefire deal.
'Israel must not occupy Gaza'
Hamas has accepted a key part of a US plan, dropping a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. At the outset of the war, he pledged to annihilate Hamas.
Biden told reporters that Israel must not occupy Gaza while also offering some criticism of Israel's war cabinet, saying "Israel occasionally was less than cooperative". He also expressed disappointment that some of his steps not having succeeded in Gaza, citing the planned winding down of the US military's humanitarian pier off the coast of Gaza as an example.
The United States, Israel's important ally, has seen months of protests around the country in opposition to the war that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and to US support for Israel. A dozen US administration officials have quit, citing opposition to Biden's Gaza policy.
Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza City after week-long offensive
Meanwhile, Israeli forces retreated from some Gaza City districts overnight after a fierce, week-long military offensive, leaving dozens of dead and wrecked homes and roads in the Palestinian enclave's biggest urban area, according to residents. The Gaza Civil Emergency Service said teams had collected around 60 bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces over the past week.
"There are bodies scattered in the streets, dismembered bodies, there are bodies of entire families, there are also bodies inside a home of an entire family that was completely burned," Gaza Strip Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in comments carried by media in Hamas-run Gaza. The Israeli military had said on Thursday that its forces were working to dismantle Hamas capabilities in Gaza City.
On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least six people in Gaza City and 19 in the rest of the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian authorities. The civil emergency service said the bodies of at least 30 Palestinians killed in the previous three days also laid scattered on unreachable roads in Gaza City.
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad official on Thursday said a new round of peace talks ended with no agreements as of now. Netanyahu accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of making demands that contradicted a framework deal brokered by Washington. Hamas said mediators had yet to provide it with updates on the state of the talks since it made concessions last week to the US-proposed peace deal.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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