Gaza truce and hostage deal close, says Biden
Agreement between Israel and Hamas that includes 40-day ceasefire could be reached within days
JOE BIDEN has said Israel and Hamas are “close” to a hostage deal in Gaza, including a 40-day ceasefire.
The US president suggested a deal could be reached as early as next week and could be in place for Ramadan, which begins on March 10.
“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close,” Mr Biden told reporters on Monday. “We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”
Weeks into fruitless negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, Mr Biden suggested progress had been made in bringing about a pause to fighting in Gaza, where nearly 30,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its war.
A US State Department spokesman earlier reported “progress” in the talks.
Downing Street said yesterday that a ceasefire in Gaza is “within reach”.
Israel and Hamas have differed dramatically on key aspects of the deal: the terrorist group wants a full end to hostilities while Israel insists it cannot withdraw from Gaza before accomplishing its goal of wiping out its enemy’s military capabilities.
A draft of the deal reported by Israeli media appears to be one of the most specific of all previous proposals, mapping out steps to alleviate the humanitarian disaster in the enclave.
Under the plan, bakeries and hospitals would be refurbished or rebuilt, more than 500 aid trucks would enter Gaza daily and thousands of caravans would be delivered to Gaza to accommodate the displaced Palestinians.
In the first phase of the deal, both parties will stop fighting while Israel starts to release 10 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli hostage released by Hamas, who would initially free only women, children, elderly and sick civilians. The second phase calls on Israel to pull its forces out of densely-populated areas in Gaza.
An Israeli delegation arrived in Qatar for talks on Monday night but an unnamed official told public broadcaster Kan Radio yesterday they were less optimistic than Mr Biden.
An unnamed Hamas official told Reuters they were studying the proposal. They, too, sounded more cautious.
However, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign minister told reporters yesterday he was “optimistic” a deal can be reached before the start of Ramadan, a major holiday for Muslims.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said yesterday morning the death toll from Israel’s war has reached 29,878.
Hamas still holds 134 Israelis captured in the Oct 7 cross-border raid. Authorities are certain that at least 101 of them are still alive.
On Monday, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of failing to comply with at least one of the legally binding measures that the International Court of
‘My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet’
Justice imposed on Israel last month. Israel still obstructs the entry and distribution of aid in Gaza and impedes the provision of basic services.
The ceasefire talks in Gaza came as Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire on the northern border after deadly Israeli strikes on east Lebanon a day earlier. A United Nations official called for an end to the “dangerous cycle of violence”.
Israeli raids near east Lebanon’s Baal- bek on Monday were the first in the area since hostilities began. The Israeli army said the strikes targeted Hezbollah air defences.
Joanna Wronecka, the UN special co-ordinator for Lebanon, demanded “an immediate halt to this dangerous cycle of violence and return to a cessation of hostilities”. Yesterday, Hezbollah said it targeted the “Meron air control base... with a large salvo of rockets”, in response to the Baalbek strikes.
Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, said the rockets caused no casualties or damage to the base, while fighter jets raided and destroyed “a military site” and “military infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah in retaliation.
One of the strikes targeted Baisariyeh, near the Israeli boundary.
Later yesterday, Hezbollah said it had targeted the same base again, as well as several other Israeli positions, one for the first time since hostilities started.
Two Hezbollah fighters were killed in the east Lebanon strikes on Monday. Later that day, the Iran-backed group fired 60 rockets at an Israeli base in the annexed Golan Heights.
Meanwhile, famine is “imminent” in northern Gaza, where no humanitarian group has been able to provide aid since Jan 23, the World Food Programme warned. “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza,” WFP’S deputy executive director Carl Skau told the UN Security Council.
A peacekeeping force is being looked at to police a possible ceasefire, a UK minister signalled. Responding to a question in Parliament, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon indicated work was being undertaken for “a presence beyond the Israeli army”. He said the UK was “working hand in glove with the Americans”.