Declaring Hamas no longer capable of carrying out a major terrorist attack on Israel, President Joe Biden said on Friday that it was time for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and endorsed a new plan he said Israel had offered to win the release of hostages and end the fighting.
“It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” Biden said, speaking from the State Dining Room at the White House. He also gave a stark description of Hamas’ diminished capabilities after more than seven months of Israeli attacks, saying that “at this point, Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7”.
“This is truly a decisive moment,” Biden said. “Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.”
With that statement, Biden appeared to be revealing his true agenda: making public elements of the proposal in an effort to pressure Hamas and Israel to break out of a monthslong deadlock that has resulted in the killing of thousands of Palestinians.
US officials have described Hamas’ leader, Yahya Sinwar, as interested only in his own survival and that of his family and inner circle, as they presumably operate from tunnels deep under southern Gaza. But officials have also said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has little incentive to move to a real ceasefire, because of the widespread belief in Israel that as soon as the surviving hostages are returned, and a last ceasefire begins, he will most likely lose his fragile hold on power.
Biden’s remarks came at a pivotal moment in his re-election campaign, a day after his rival, former President Donald Trump, was convicted of 34 felony charges. At the same time, he has been facing growing pressure at home over the bloodshed in Gaza, which has led to eruptions on college campuses and on the streets of American cities, and alienated many of his own supporters.
Biden described the three-phase Israeli plan as a “comprehensive new proposal” that amounted to a road map to an “enduring ceasefire”. But at several moments in the past few months, Netanyahu has directly contradicted Biden. And so far Hamas has never accepted a comprehensive proposal, declaring in its public statements that fighting must end before major hostage releases or any agreement with Israel.
Hints of differences came almost as soon as Biden finished speaking. Following his speech, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the Israeli government was “united in the desire to bring home our hostages as soon as possible”.
But it added that Netanyahu had stipulated to Israeli negotiators that they could not reach a deal that would end the war before all their goals were achieved.
“The exact outline that Israel has offered — including the conditional progression from stage to stage — enables Israel to maintain that principle,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas reacted positively to Biden’s speech in a statement on social media, saying that it was willing to deal “constructively” with any ceasefire proposal based on a permanent truce, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and a “serious prisoner exchange.”
New York Times News Service
