US President Joe Biden on Friday called on Hamas terrorists to agree to a new offer from Israel on releasing hostages in exchange for a Gaza ceasefire, saying this is the best way to begin winding down the deadly conflict.
"With a ceasefire, that aid could be safely and effectively distributed to all who need it," Biden said. "As someone who's had a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president who has ever gone to Israel at a time of war, as someone who just sent the US 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," he said. "We can't lose this moment."
Video: Biden urges Hamas to accept deal / Credit: YouTube/WHiteHouse
The plan's first phase would span six weeks of total ceasefire and an IDF pullout from main Gazan population centers in exchange for the release of women, injured and elderly hostages from Hamas captivity, and hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli prisons. The second phase will see the rest of the living hostages being released, including soldiers, while IDF forces withdraw from Gaza and the ceasefire continuing. The third phase will include the return of bodies and the launch of reconstruction, along with new normalization deals between Israel and its neighbors, potentially including Saudi Arabia.
Israel has offered a three-part "roadmap" to a cease-fire that has been sent to Hamas and that includes the release of hostages and the distribution of aid in Gaza, Pres. Biden says. Here's what it entails. https://t.co/CocwqFlPhQ pic.twitter.com/WfaVkdlYrm
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 31, 2024
"It's a roadmap to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages. This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas. Today, I want to lay out just terms for American citizens and for the world. This new proposal has three phases," Biden said. "There are a number of details to negotiate, to move from phase one to phase two. Israel could be part of a regional security network to counter the threat posed by Iran. All this progress would make Israel more secure with Israeli families no longer living in the shadow of a terrorist attack. All of this would create the conditions for a different future, a better future for the Palestinian people one of self-determination, dignity, security, and freedom."
An earlier hostage proposal put forward earlier this year called for the release of sick, elderly and wounded hostages in Gaza in exchange for a six-week ceasefire that could be extended to allow for more humanitarian aid to be delivered into the enclave.
The proposed deal fell apart earlier this month after Israel refused to agree to a permanent end to the war as part of the negotiations and ramped up an assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
"This is truly a decisive moment," Biden said as he spoke of the three-phase deal that Israeli officials have offered Hamas. "Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it."
Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it would not take part in more negotiations during ongoing aggression but was ready for a "complete agreement," including an exchange of hostages and prisoners if Israel stopped the war. Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled, with both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan would meet on Friday with diplomats from 17 countries who have citizens held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. Israel will not agree to any halt in fighting that is not part of a deal that includes the return of surviving hostages, a senior Israeli security official said on Friday.
Overshadowing Biden was an Israeli airstrike in Rafah on Sunday that killed 45 Palestinians.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that recent Israeli ground operations in Rafah would not prompt a US withdrawal of more military aid.
