President Joe Biden urged Hamas to accept his administration’s latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal. “It is now up to Hamas. They have to follow the proposal that was put forward,” Biden said. CIA Director Bill Burns shared the proposal with negotiators this weekend in Cairo.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the ball is in Hamas’ court in response. The United States is working with Egypt and Qatar to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas that includes a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of 40 activists held hostage and hundreds of prisoners in Palestine.
Biden confirmed the duration of the proposed ceasefire but did not provide further details. He made the remarks at a press conference in the Rose Garden before a state dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
In making his first public comments on the proposal, Biden said he had been “very direct and direct” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet about the changes that the United States would like to see in its allies’ approach to this issue – war.
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Biden said his call with Netanyahu last week was lengthy and that the Israeli leader agreed to take steps to deliver more aid, food, and medicine to the Gaza Strip and significantly reduce casualties to civilians.
More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The United States said, more than 400 aid trucks were allowed into Gaza, the most on any day since October 7, 2023.
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However, Biden emphasized in the press conference that this is not enough and said the US is looking to open another port of entry in the north. “We’ll see what he does to fulfill the commitments he made to me,” Biden said of Netanyahu.
After a call with Biden, Netanyahu said he had set a date for the long-awaited invasion of Rafah. The United States has warned that the operation would endanger more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering in the area.
The president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Tuesday that he has yet to “see a credible and workable plan” for relocation, housing, food, and supplies of medicine for civilians. Senior US officials said Tuesday that their Israeli counterparts had not informed them when the operation would take place.
ALSO READ: Qatar Says Hamas Has Received Proposed Hostage Deal Amid Ongoing War
Biden, in an interview with Univision taped and broadcast, said the Israeli prime minister made “mistakes” in his approach to the war. “I think there is no reason not to meet the medical and nutritional needs of these people. This should be done now,” Biden said in the interview.
The US President also condemned the “scandalous” killing of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen by the Israeli army. In the interview, Biden discussed the possibility of a ceasefire, but he did not mention hostages. He stressed Wednesday that any deal would include the release of hostages. “And it involves hostages,” Biden said.
The hostage families gathered at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday and with Sullivan on Monday. Biden said the United States will not stop until they are repatriated.
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