Biden has put renewed pressure on Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire proposal to end Israel’s war in Gaza on Friday that he said was devised by Israel, urging Hamas to accept it and Israel not to renege.
But what has followed in the days since is a series of conflicting statements from Israel and the Biden administration, leaving the state of the negotiations uncertain. The White House seems to think a deal is close. But Israeli officials have suggested that Biden misrepresented their proposal and that they won’t stop fighting until Hamas is completely destroyed.
In a speech at the White House Friday, Biden articulated a three-phase ceasefire proposal: First, over six weeks, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from “all populated areas of Gaza” and a Palestinian prisoner exchange for certain hostages; then an “exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers”; and finally, reconstruction of Gaza and the return of all hostage remains.
According to Axios’s Barak Ravid, Biden has told the emir of Qatar, who is acting as a mediator in the negotiations, that Israel is ready to move forward with the terms of that proposal. However, in the last few days, Israel has contested Biden’s description of the proposal, with some leaders claiming the plan wasn’t an Israeli creation and that the terms in the proposal are unacceptable. Meanwhile, Hamas has received the proposal positively, though it has not made any firm commitments yet.
Friday, Biden argued that Israel has essentially achieved its stated goal of destroying Hamas with its Gaza operation, saying that Hamas had been degraded to the point that it “no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7” and said that it was “time for this war to end.”
This is the closest that Biden has come to publicly telling Israel, which counts the US as its closest ally, what its strategy in Gaza should be since the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Under increasing domestic pressure to wrap up the war before the November presidential election, Biden has nonetheless said that Israel has not crossed his red line with its operation in Rafah, and that his administration remains supportive of Israel’s war — but his patience appears to be wearing thin.
