In efforts to win over progressive elements of Democratic Party, Biden lays out three-phase ceasefire plan
\n CAIRO
\nUS President Joe Biden on Friday laid out what he described as a three-phase Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in besieged Gaza in return for the release of Israeli captives, saying \u201cIt\u2019s time for this war to end\u201d and winning a positive initial reaction from Hamas resistance group
\nThe first phase involves a six-week ceasefire when Israeli forces would withdraw from \u201call populated areas\u201d of Gaza, some hostages – including the elderly and women – would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian civilians could return to their homes in Gaza and 600 trucks a day would bring humanitarian aid into the devastated enclave.
\nIn this phase, the freedom fighter group and Israel would negotiate a permanent ceasefire that Biden claimed would last \u201cas long as Hamas lives up to its commitments.\u201d
\nIf negotiations took more than six weeks, the temporary ceasefire would extend while they continued.
\nIn the second phase, Biden said there would be an exchange for all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza and the permanent ceasefire would begin.
\nThe third phase would include a major reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the \u201cfinal remains\u201d of hostages to their families.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin,\u201d told Biden, who is under election-year pressure to stop the assault on Gaza, now in its eighth month.
\nHamas, which Biden said received the proposal from Qatar, released a statement reacting positively.
\nThe resistance group said it was ready to engage \u201cpositively and in a constructive manner\u201d with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces, the reconstruction of Gaza, a return of those displaced, and a \u201cgenuine\u201d prisoner swap deal if Israel \u201cclearly announces commitment to such deal\u201d.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office claimed he had authorized his negotiating team to present the deal, \u201cwhile insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our hostages.\u201d
\nSeparately, the Israeli military claimed its forces have ended operations in north Gaza\u2019s Jabalia area after days of intense fighting while probing further into Rafah in south Gaza to target what they say is the last major Hamas redoubt.
\nThe conflict began on October 7 when gunmen led by the Islamist Palestinian group stormed into southern Israel on motorcycles, paragliders and four-wheel drive vehicles, killing 1200 people and abducting more than 250, as per Israeli tallies.
\nIsrael then invaded the Gaza Strip in what Netanyahu has called an effort to destroy Hamas, the \u201cmilitant\u201d Palestinian group that seized control of the area from the Fatah Palestinian faction in a violent struggle in 2007.
\nTalks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly stalled, with each side blaming the other for the lack of progress.
\nAn infinite war
\nIn his speech, Biden called on the Israeli leadership to resist pressure from those in Israel who were pushing for the war to go on \u201cindefinitely,\u201d a group he said included some in the Israeli governing coalition.
\n\u201cThey want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years and hostages are not a priority for them. Well, I\u2019ve urged leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes,\u201d he added.
\nHe implored Israelis not to miss the chance for a ceasefire.
\n\u201cAs the only American president who has ever gone to Israel at a time of war, as someone who just sent the U.S. forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back, think what will happen if this moment is lost,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t lose this moment.\u201d
\nThe Israeli assault on Gaza has put Biden in a political bind.
\nOn the one hand, he has long been a staunch supporter of Israel and would like to ensure funding and support from the pro-Israel community in the United States in his November 5 election rematch against Republican former President Donald Trump.
\nOn the other, progressive elements of Biden\u2019s Democratic Party have grown increasingly angry at the president for the suffering the conflict has caused civilians in Gaza.
\nPalestinian health authorities estimate more than 36,280 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel attacked, and the United Nations says over a million people face \u201ccatastrophic\u201d levels of hunger as famine takes hold in parts of the enclave.
\nSignalling a US effort to build support for the proposal, the State Department said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Jordanian, Saudi and Turkish counterparts.
\nSpeaking to the Turkish foreign minister, \u201che emphasized that Hamas should accept the deal and that every country with a relationship with Hamas should press it to do so without delay,\u2019 the State Department said.
\nIn a sign of support for Israel despite the partisan divide in the United States, leaders of the Democratic-led US Senate and of the Republican-led House of Representatives on Friday invited Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress.
\nThe week has been dominated by the fallout from an Israeli air strike in Rafah on Sunday that killed 45 Palestinians.
\n\u201cThe Palestinian people have endured sheer hell in this war,\u201d Biden said on Friday. \u201cWe all saw the terrible images from the deadly fire in Rafah earlier this week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In efforts to win over progressive elements of Democratic Party, Biden lays out three-phase ceasefire plan CAIRO US President Joe Biden on Friday laid out what he described as a three-phase Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in besieged Gaza in return for the release of Israeli captives, saying \u201cIt\u2019s time for this war to end\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-410274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n