President Joe Biden on Friday called on Hamas to accept a peace deal offered by the Israelis, saying “it’s time for the war to end.”
He outlined a three-phase plan that would begin with an immediate ceasefire, release all hostages and conclude with the reconstruction of Gaza.
“Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7th,” Biden said in remarks in the East Room of the White House, urging the terrorist group to “take the deal.”
“This is truly a defining moment,” Biden said. ‘Israel has made its proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. “This deal is an opportunity to show if they really mean it.”
‘It’s time to start this new stage,’ he said. “It’s time for this war to end and for the day after 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 an opportunity to show if they really mean it.”
The war began with Hamas’ sudden attack on Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages remain captive 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, where the Hamas group lives.
Biden made his call for a peace deal as Israeli forces advanced toward the center of Rafah, pushing deeper into the southern Gaza city filled with at least a million Palestinian refugees, despite international backlash and pressure from allies to reduce the attack.
‘Israel offered a new comprehensive proposal. “It is a roadmap towards a lasting ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” the president said.
He described the three phases:
The first would last six weeks and include a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all “populated areas of Gaza” and the release of “several” 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 hostages who have been killed, 600 aid trucks a day and the start of talks for the second phase.
The second phase 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 ceasefire in phase one would last more than six weeks if negotiations are still continuing.
The third phase would be the reconstruction of Gaza.
Biden promised that “the United States will work with our partners to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza” and “help repair communities that were destroyed in the chaos of war.”
Palestinians carry some recovered belongings as they leave the Jabalia refugee camp.
Israeli tanks advance 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 Israeli troops will completely withdraw 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 face 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 needed by Palestinians.
They have also taken over the entire border between Gaza and Egypt, where humanitarian aid arrived.
Israel maintains that Hamas terrorists are hiding among the general population, making destruction necessary.
Israel’s campaign in the nearly eight-month war has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians and injured more than 80,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.