Biden presents new Israel ceasefire plan, calls on Hamas to accept
MNP – U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said Israel had proposed a fresh Gaza ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages and called on Hamas to agree to the new offer, saying it was the best way to end the conflict.
“It’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin,” said Biden, who is under election-year pressure to stop the Gaza conflict, now in its eighth month.
Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the militant Hamas movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled, with both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress.
This proposal comes after weeks of Israeli incursions into Rafah, and new pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at home and abroad over the deaths in Gaza and the continued captivity of the hostages.
Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that Israel had authorized negotiators to present a Gaza truce deal after Biden revealed the ceasefire plan.
