Biden’s Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Plan
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the first phase of a U.S.-promoted plan to wind down the Gaza war could proceed without the necessary agreement on what follows. The plan a limited hostage release by Hamas. Israeli media quoted him saying so on Monday.
Officials did not immediately confirm the leaked quotes from a closed-door parliamentary meeting.That suggests Israel sees a possibility of entering an initial Gaza truce though it has ruled out ending the war as demanded by Hamas.
An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel has accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war. U.S. President Joe Biden broached the ceasefire deal on the 1st of June. Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, stated, “We agreed to Biden’s proposal.” He said this in an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times. Above all, he also said, “it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them”. Netanyahu’s right-hand man described the plan as flawed and in need of much more work. “There are a lot of details to be worked out,” he said. Adding that Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organisation” have not changed.
The U.S. State Department also said Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls about the proposal with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz. Gantz is a centrist minister who joined Netanyahu in an emergency coalition. In the call with Gantz, Blinken “emphasized that Hamas should take the (Biden’s Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Plan) deal without delay,” the department said in a statement.
The first phase entails a truce and the return of some hostages held by Hamas. Afterwards, the sides would negotiate an open-ended end to hostilities in a second phase. In which the remaining live hostages would be freed, Biden said. All in all, that sequencing appears to imply that Hamas will continue to play a role in incremental arrangements mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
Hamas has provisionally welcomed the Biden initiative. Though, a senior official from the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, said “Hamas is too big to be bypassed. Or sidelined by Netanyahu or Biden.” Hamas wants a guaranteed end to the Gaza offensive. And a withdrawal of all invading forces. Thirdly, free movement for Palestinians. And finally, reconstruction aid.
(With Reuters inputs)
