‘Time for this war to end’: Biden pushes Israeli plan for Gaza truce

In a major televised address, Joe Biden urged Hamas to accept Israel’s new road map toward peace in Gaza that would see the IDF withdraw from all populated areas of the enclave.

US President Joe Biden said Friday Israel had offered a new road map towards a permanent peace in Gaza, urging Hamas to accept the surprise deal as it was “time for this war to end.” In his first major address outlining a solution to the conflict, Biden said the three-phase proposal starts with a six-week complete ceasefire that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza.

“It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House.

“Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a road map to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” he said.

The 81-year-old Democrat is under pressure at home to bring an end to the Gaza war ahead of a tight US presidential election in November against Donald Trump, with nationwide campus protests and anger in his own party.

Biden said the onus for peace was on the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose attack on key US ally Israel on October 7 last year trigged the grinding conflict in Gaza.

“Hamas needs to take the deal,” said Biden, who has supported Israel with billions of dollars in military aid since the conflict began.

But Biden said he had also urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders not to “lose this moment,” saying Israel’s offensive had significantly degraded Hamas.

“Hamas is no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7,” said Biden, in comments which will be seen as indicating he believes Israel has achieved its war goals and should ease off.

Biden said the first six-week phase would include a “full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.” Israel and Hamas would then negotiate during those six weeks for a lasting ceasefire – but the truce would continue if the talks remained underway, Biden said.

“As long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, the cessation of hostilities permanently,” added Biden.

A third phase would involve years of internationally backed reconstruction.

- ‘Sheer hell’ -

Biden’s announcement comes after repeated attempts to end the war have stalled – and signs that the deal may already be dead on arrival.

Netanyahu said after Biden’s speech that the Gaza war would not end until the “elimination” of Hamas’s capacity to govern and make war.

“The prime minister authorised the [Israeli] negotiating team to present an outline for achieving this goal, while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities,” he said in a statement.

Hamas, which received the proposal on Wednesday through mediator Qatar said it “positively views” the proposal, specifying “his call to a permanent ceasefire, the Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the exchange of prisoners.”

“The movement affirms its position of readiness to deal positively and constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that,” the militant group said in a statement.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Qatar-based political office, reiterated that the group’s core demands – including a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal – “are non-negotiable.” A senior US official said however that the new Israeli proposal was “almost identical” to what Hamas itself had offered a few weeks ago – admitting that there were still “small gaps.” Biden did not significantly address Israel’s assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli army said Friday its troops had pushed into the city centre despite international objections.

Biden acknowledged however that Palestinians were enduring “sheer hell.” The US president has been under international pressure over his support for Israel since a deadly strike on Rafah set ablaze a crowded camp on Sunday. Gaza officials said 45 people were killed and about 250 wounded.

The White House however said this week that while the Israeli strike was “devastating,” it did not breach Biden’s red lines for withholding weapons deliveries to the key US ally.

AFP