U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday about ways to advance a potential Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal, the White House said. The call followed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s whirlwind trip to the Middle East that ended on Tuesday without an agreement between Israel and Hamas militants on a truce in the Palestinian enclave.
Quick Read
- President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss advancing a potential Gaza ceasefire and a deal for the release of hostages.
- The conversation followed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to the Middle East, which ended without an agreement on a truce between Israel and Hamas.
- Biden and Netanyahu’s discussion focused on the U.S. “bridging proposal,” which aims to narrow gaps in the ongoing negotiations during the 10-month-old Gaza war.
- Vice President Kamala Harris also participated in the call and is set to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday in Chicago.
- Biden’s efforts are focused on urging Netanyahu to ease a new Israeli demand to maintain control of a land corridor between Egypt and Gaza.
- Achieving a ceasefire in Gaza is a top priority for Biden, though talks remain difficult, with Hamas seeking complete Israeli withdrawal and Israel wanting to retain control over key areas, but talks remain agonizingly elusive despite being close to a deal last week, according to a senior U.S. official.
- Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the Philadelphi Corridor, while Israel wants to retain control of the corridor, which it captured in May after destroying tunnels it claims were used to smuggle weapons into Gaza.
- An Egyptian official involved in the negotiations stated that the U.S. bridging proposal requires Hamas to release civilian hostages in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting, with no guaranteed permanent ceasefire, which Hamas is unlikely to accept.
- The proposal also does not guarantee an Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, leading to further rejection from both Hamas and Egyptian officials.
The Associated Press has the story:
Biden speaks with Israel’s Netanyahu on Gaza ceasefire talks
Newslooks- Washington (AP) –
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday about ways to advance a potential Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal, the White House said. The call followed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s whirlwind trip to the Middle East that ended on Tuesday without an agreement between Israel and Hamas militants on a truce in the Palestinian enclave.
Blinken and mediators from Egypt and Qatar have pinned their hopes on a U.S. “bridging proposal” aimed at narrowing the gaps between the two sides in the 10-month-old Gaza war. “President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to discuss the ceasefire and hostage release deal and diplomatic efforts to de-escalate regional tensions,” a White House statement said.
Vice President Kamala Harris will on Thursday in Chicago formally accept the nomination as the Democrats’ presidential candidate for the Nov. 5 election, also joined the call. The White House was to provide further details of the call later in the day.
Biden had been expected to press Netanyahu to soften a new Israeli demand that it be allowed to keep forces along a land corridor between Egypt and Gaza, a U.S. official said before the call. Biden is on a family vacation in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, staying on an 8,000-acre ranch.
Getting a Gaza ceasefire deal is a major priority for Biden. A senior U.S. official on Friday described the talks as close to a deal but a final agreement has been agonizingly elusive. In talks to halt fighting in the 10-month-old war, Hamas is seeking a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long (nine-mile-long) stretch of land along the coastal enclave’s southern border with Egypt. Israel wants to retain control of the corridor, which it captured in late May, after destroying dozens of tunnels beneath it that it says had served to smuggle in weapons to Gaza’s militant groups, a claim that was firmly denied by Egyptian officials.
One Egyptian official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said the bridging proposal requires the implementation of the deal’s first phase, which has Hamas releasing the most vulnerable civilian hostages captured in its Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. Parties during the first phase would negotiate the second and third phases with no “guarantees” to Hamas from Israel or mediators. “The Americans are offering promises, not guarantees,” the official said. “Hamas won’t accept this, because it virtually means Hamas will release the civilian hostages in return for a six-week pause of fighting with no guarantees for a negotiated permanent cease-fire.”
He also said the proposal doesn’t clearly say Israel will withdraw its forces from two strategic corridors in Gaza, the Philadelphi corridor alongside Egypt and the Netzarim corridor east to west across the territory. Israel offers to downsize its forces in the Philadelphi corridor, with “promises” to withdraw from the area, he said. “This is not acceptable for us and of course for Hamas,” the Egyptian official said.
