Biden says Israel offered Hamas three-step roadmap to lasting ceasefire

Washington: US President Joe Biden announced on Friday that Israel had offered Hamas a three-step road map to sustain the ceasefire in the region.

“Today, after intensive diplomacy by my team and my many conversations with the leaders of Israel, Qatar, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has proposed a new comprehensive proposal. It’s a road map to a lasting ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

“This proposal was transmitted by Qatar to Hamas,” he said, adding that this new proposal has three phases. The first phase, expected to last six weeks, includes a total and complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, the release of a number of hostages, including women, elderly people, the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

“There are American hostages who would be released at this point, and we want them to return home,” he said, adding that Palestinian civilians would return to their homes and neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza. , including in the north. Humanitarian aid would increase with 600 trucks transporting aid to Gaza every day, he noted.

“This is truly a watershed moment. Israel has made its proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove if they really mean it. Hamas must accept the deal,” Biden said.

During the six weeks of the first phase, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary arrangements to move on to the second phase, which constitutes the final end of hostilities. “Now, I’ll be frank with you, there are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two. Israel will want to ensure its interests are protected, but the proposal states that if negotiations take more than six weeks for the first phase, the ceasefire will continue for as long as negotiations continue,” he said. declared.

The second phase, Biden said, would be an exchange for the release of all living hostages, including male soldiers. Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza and, as long as Hamas respected its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become, under the terms of the Israeli proposal, a definitive cessation of hostilities.

In the third phase, a major plan to rebuild Gaza would begin and the remains of slain hostages would be returned to their families, he said.

“That’s the offer. It’s now on the table and that’s what we were asking for. This is what we need. The Israeli people must know that they can make this offer without additional risk to their own security, as they have devastated Hamas over the past eight months,” he said.

Biden reiterated his commitment to Israel’s defense. “To the people of Israel, let me say this. As someone who has a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president to visit Israel during wartime, as someone who just sent American forces to directly defend Israel when “It was attacked by Iran, I ask you to step back and think about what will happen if this moment is lost,” he said.

“We cannot lose this moment. Indefinite war and the pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory will not bring Israel and will only bog down Israel and Gaza, draining economic, military and human resources and deepening Israel’s isolation around the world. , declared the American president.

The United States, he said, will help craft a diplomatic resolution that guarantees Israel’s security and allows citizens to return home safely without fear of attack. With the agreement on rebuilding Gaza, Arab nations and the international community, along with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, will begin to do so in a way that will not allow Hamas to rearm, he added. .

The United States will work with our partners to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza, to help repair communities destroyed in the chaos of war. With this agreement, Israel could integrate more deeply into the region, including a possible historic normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. “Israel could be part of a regional security network to counter the threat posed by Iran,” Biden said.