US President Joe Biden has said he wants a ceasefire in the Israeli war in Gaza by next Monday, as negotiations to end hostilities and secure the release of prisoners appear to be gaining pace.
Biden's comments in New York on Monday came as Israeli media reported that an Israeli military delegation had flown to Qatar for intensive talks.
The negotiations, brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, halt fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow aid to Gaza, where the United Nations says some 2.3 million people are at risk of starvation. That's what I'm aiming for.
The proposed moratorium would also allow for the release of dozens of prisoners held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Asked when he thought the ceasefire would begin, Biden said he expected it to take effect within days.
“Well, we're hoping to have it done by the beginning or end of the weekend,” he told reporters at an ice cream shop in New York. “My national security adviser says we are getting close. It's not over yet. My hope is that by next Monday there will be a ceasefire.”
In recent days, the United States has increased pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire soon to stop the threat of an Israeli attack on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is home to about 1.4 million people, including war-displaced people. . I asked for safety.
Al Jazeera's Patti Culhane, reporting from Washington, D.C., said Biden's comments could be taken as a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“He may be trying to bring parties to the negotiations and give Prime Minister Netanyahu a sign that a cease-fire is needed on Monday. If not, the president may “He would look embarrassed, and that's not good for the president of the United States,” she said.
Culhane said Biden's comments may also have been aimed at voters in Michigan, where the presidential primary is scheduled for Tuesday. Many local Arab and Muslim-American voters have pledged to vote “irresponsibly” on their ballots in protest of Biden's support for Israel.
“Michigan's anger is palpable,” Culhane said, noting that Biden's own envoys to Arab and Muslim communities say the president can't win Michigan without major changes in foreign policy. He pointed out that.
“Biden won Michigan by more than 157,000 votes in the last election in 2020, but Michigan is home to approximately 300,000 Arab and Muslim Americans, not to mention people of all races. , young people of all faiths are turning their backs on Biden. That's why they're so nervous,” she said.
Biden's comments came after National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said representatives from Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the United States met in Paris over the weekend to discuss the terms of the cease-fire agreement, and that there was an “understanding” of the contours of the deal. It came out the day after he said it had reached . .
No Hamas representatives took part in the talks in the French capital.
Reuters, citing Egyptian security sources, said that after the Paris meeting, close talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives would take place first in Qatar and then in Cairo.
Hamas has a political office in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
In Qatar on Monday, the country's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a bid to reach an “immediate and permanent ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip,” according to Qatar News Agency. We discussed our efforts.
After the meeting, Haniya said Hamas welcomed the mediator's efforts to end the war and accused Israel of stalling as Gaza residents die under siege.
Israel, on the other hand, continues to insist publicly that the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated, and that its plans to attack Rafah will continue even if a ceasefire is reached.
Since October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, 29,782 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Approximately 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas attack.
The insurgents also took about 250 prisoners to Gaza.
More than 100 of the prisoners were released during a brief ceasefire in November, but about 132 remain in Gaza, Israeli officials said.
