Washington: US President Joe Biden on Friday said Israel had proposed a fresh Gaza ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, and called on Hamas to agree to the new offer, saying it was the best way to end the conflict. This came as negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas have repeatedly stalled, with both sides blaming each other for the lack of progress.
"It's time for this war to end and for the day after to begin," said Biden, who is under election-year pressure to stop the Gaza conflict, now in its eighth month. This proposal comes after weeks of Israeli incursions into Rafah, and new pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government at home and abroad over the deaths in Gaza and the continued captivity of the hostages.
Netanyahu's office said on Friday that Israel had authorized negotiators to present a Gaza truce deal after Biden revealed the ceasefire plan. The new proposal Biden laid out is made up of three phases, and breaks from previous proposals because a ceasefire would continue as the parties move through all three. A senior US official said the Israel was able to make the new offer because of recent battleground gains.
What does the deal propose?
As per the new proposal, the first phase would include a six-week ceasefire, where Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza population centers, and hostages, including the elderly and women, would be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian civilians would return to Gaza, including northern Gaza, and 600 trucks would bring humanitarian aid into Gaza each day, Biden said.
In the second phase, Hamas and Israel would negotiate terms of a permanent end to hostilities. "The ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue," the president said, a new development. The third phase would include a major reconstruction plan for Gaza. Biden said the proposal has been relayed to Hamas by Qatar.
"I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan. And will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition. They've made it clear. They want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years and hostages are not a priority for them. Well, I've urged leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes," Biden said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the war will continue until all of its objectives were achieved. "The Prime Minister authorized the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities. The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles," his office said in a statement.
Hamas reacts 'positively'
According to the US official, each phase would last 42 days. "There is now really a road map to the end of the crisis. It is a detailed four-and-half-page agreement," the official said. "It has been negotiated, again, in painstaking detail. And what's on the table now is really kind of an endgame to the process."
Several Israeli media outlets described Biden's speech on Friday as dramatic, and interpreted it as an attempt to appeal directly to the Israeli public. Leading Channel 12 interrupted its evening news show to carry Biden's speech live. Israel's censor had previously banned publication of the offer's details, anchor Danny Kushmaro said. This proposal has a higher likelihood of success than previous ones, said Jeremi Suri, a history and public affairs professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Meanwhile, Hamas on Friday said it had a positive view of the contents of the three-phase ceasefire proposal announced by Biden. "Hamas confirms its readiness to deal positively and in a constructive manner with any proposal that is based on the permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal [of Israeli forces] from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of Gaza], and the return of the displaced to their places, along with the fulfilment of a genuine prisoner swap deal if the occupation clearly announces commitment to such deal," the group said in a statement.
Hamas' position signals a change in attitude from the group, which in recent months had accused the US of siding with Israel and obstructing attempts for a ceasefire. "Hamas sees Biden's position now more focused on pressuring Israel to return to negotiations with a different attitude, or they (Israel) could risk clashing with the Americans," a Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts told Reuters.
Earlier proposals
The mounting death count in Gaza, which has crossed 36,000, has caused international support towards Israel to fade, with rising calls for an immediate ceasefire. An earlier hostage proposal put forward this year called for the release of sick, elderly and wounded hostages in Gaza in exchange for a six-week ceasefire that could be extended to allow for more aid to be delivered into the enclave, which fell apart in May.
Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it would not take part in more negotiations during ongoing aggression but was ready for a "complete agreement," including an exchange of hostages and prisoners, if Israel stopped the war. "The Palestinian people have endured sheer hell in this war," Biden said on Friday. "We all saw the terrible images from the deadly fire in Rafah earlier this week, following an Israeli strike ... targeting Hamas."
Palestinian health authorities estimate more than 36,280 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel attacked the enclave in response to an Oct. 7 Hamas assault in southern Israel. The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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