Biden says Israel is Ready to Pause Gaza Fighting; Hamas says Deal not Done Yet
Israel is prepared to suspend its Gaza attacks for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a cease-fire that could be signed as soon as next week, according to Joe Biden, while Hamas leaders claimed the president’s words were premature as the group is reviewing a truce offer.
Biden’s remarks, filmed on Monday and broadcast after midnight on Tuesday, came as negotiators attempt to reach the first lengthy truce agreement in a conflict that has destroyed the Gaza Strip since October last year.
“Ramadan is coming up, and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in operations throughout Ramadan, as well, in order to allow us time to get all the captives out,” Biden stated on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth “My national security adviser tells me that they’re close. They’re close. They’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,” Biden said.
Hamas is reviewing a proposal agreed at a meeting in Paris last week between Israel, the United States and mediators from Egypt and Qatar, the most serious push for a ceasefire since the last truce collapsed after a week in November.
Two senior Hamas officials said Biden’s remarks suggesting the agreement had already been reached in principle were premature.
There were “still big gaps to be bridged”, one Hamas official told Reuters. “The primary and main issues of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces are not clearly stated, which delays reaching an agreement.”
The draft proposal sent to Hamas was for a 40-day truce during which Hamas would free around 40 hostages – including women, those under 19 or over 50 years old, and the sick – in return for around 400 Palestinian detainees at a 10-for-one ratio.
Israel would reposition its troops outside of settled areas. Gaza residents, apart from men of fighting age, would be permitted to return home to areas previously evacuated, and aid would be ramped up, including urgent equipment to house the displaced.
But the offer appears to stop short of Hamas’s main demands in earlier talks – that a ceasefire include a commitment for a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal.
It also does not cover the release of Israeli hostages who are soldiers or healthy men of fighting age, or a Hamas demand for as many as 1,500 detainees to be freed.
Delegations from Hamas and Israel are both in Qatar this week discussing details of the ceasefire.
