WASHINGTON
\nUS President Joe Biden said on Thursday the Israel-Gaza war must end now and Israel must not occupy the enclave after the war, telling reporters his ceasefire framework had been agreed on by both Israel and Hamas but there were still gaps to close.
\n\u201cThat framework is now agreed on by both Israel and Hamas. So I sent my team to the region to hammer out the details,\u201d Biden said in a news conference.
\nBiden in late May detailed a proposal of three phases aimed at achieving a ceasefire, the release of hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Gaza and the rebuilding of the coastal enclave.
\nCIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk were in the Middle East this week meeting with regional counterparts to discuss the ceasefire deal.
\n\u201cThese are difficult, complex issues. There are still gaps to close. We\u2019re making progress. The trend is positive. I\u2019m determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war, which should end now,\u201d Biden said in the press conference.
\nPalestinian Islamist group Hamas has accepted a key part of a US plan, dropping a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the deal must not prevent Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. At the outset of the war, he pledged to annihilate Hamas.
\nNetanyahu\u2019s office said on Wednesday he was committed to securing a Gaza ceasefire deal provided Israel\u2019s red lines were respected.
\nBiden told reporters on Thursday that Israel must not occupy Gaza while also offering some criticism of Israel\u2019s war cabinet, saying \u201cIsrael occasionally was less than cooperative.\u201d
\nBiden also expressed disappointment at some of his steps not having succeeded in Gaza, citing the planned winding down of the US military\u2019s humanitarian pier off the coast of Gaza as an example. \u201cI was hopeful that would be more successful,\u201d he said.
\nThe Biden administration has faced international criticism for its continuing support of Israel in the face of growing civilian casualties.
\nThe United States, Israel\u2019s important ally, has seen months of protests around the country in opposition to the war and to US support for Israel.
\nA dozen US administration officials have quit, citing opposition to Biden\u2019s Gaza policy. Rights advocates also note a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia in the US amid the war.
\nThe latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel. They killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
\nThe Gaza health ministry says that since then over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel\u2019s assault on the coastal enclave, which has displaced nearly all its 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US President Joe Biden said on Thursday the Israel-Gaza war must end now and Israel must not occupy the enclave after the war, telling reporters his ceasefire framework had been agreed on by both Israel and Hamas but there were still gaps to close. \u201cThat framework is now agreed on by both Israel and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-418052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n