ISRAEL has agreed to a proposal that would lead to a “lasting” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, US President Joe Biden has announced, as he faces mounting pressure and criticism over his support for the Israeli war effort.
During a news conference at the White House on Friday afternoon, Biden said Israel has put forward “a comprehensive new proposal” to end the war.
“It’s a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire,” the United States president told reporters.
Biden said the proposal involves three phases, the first of which would last six weeks and include a full and complete ceasefire, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza.
The first phase would also see a number of captives held in the Gaza Strip – including women and the elderly – released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, while humanitarian aid would flow into Gaza.
“There are American hostages who would be released at this stage and we want them home,” said Biden, adding that Qatar had transmitted the proposal to the Palestinian group Hamas, which governs Gaza.
In a statement shared on Telegram late on Friday, Hamas said it welcomed Biden’s remarks and his call for “a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal of [Israeli] occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction and prisoners exchange“.
The group also said it was ready to respond “positively and constructively” to any proposal that includes those measures – as well as the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in Gaza – if Israel “explicitly commits” to it, as well.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli prime minister authorised the country’s negotiating team to “present a proposal” to advance its goal of securing the release of captives held in Gaza.
The move also allows “Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities”, the statement said.
“The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.”
