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President Joe Biden on Friday argued that Hamas has been weakened enough to no longer be able to carry out the kind of attacks that sparked the current eight-month conflict in Gaza, and laid out a three-phase proposal put forward by Israel to end the grim crisis, declaring that “the time has come to end this war.”
It may have been Biden’s furthest yet in telling Israel that its stated objectives in Gaza have been achieved and it’s time to stop fighting as part of a hostage deal.
“At this point, Hamas no longer has the capacity to carry out another attack like that of October 7th, which is one of Israel’s primary objectives in this war and frankly, it is legitimate,” Biden said at the White House.
He has just unveiled a three-phase Israeli proposal combining hostage release with a “full and complete ceasefire,” which he said offered the best hope of bringing peace to Gaza.
“This is really a defining moment,” he said.
Biden said the Israeli proposal was conveyed to him this week. The first phase would last six weeks and would include “the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all populated areas of Gaza” and the “release of many hostages, including women, elderly and wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”
He said in a second phase they would be released “in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages, including male soldiers.”
“As long as Hamas abides by its commitments, the temporary ceasefire will become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, a ‘permanent cessation of hostilities,'” Biden said.
The president said the third phase would see “the launch of a major reconstruction project for the Gaza Strip and the return of the bodies of the slain hostages to their families.”
Less than an hour after Biden detailed Israel’s proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that his country would not end the war until Hamas was defeated.
“The Israeli government is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is committed to achieving this goal,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. “The prime minister has therefore authorized the negotiating team to present the outline of how this goal will be achieved, and stressed that the war will not end until all objectives have been achieved, including the return of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas’ military and government forces.”
Downing Street argued that the “precise outline” of Israel’s proposal would allow Israel to “uphold these principles.”
Shortly after the statement was released, it was announced that the top four parliamentary leaders had formally invited Netanyahu to address a joint session of parliament, without specifying a date or time.
Hamas issued a statement late on Friday saying it was responding positively to the proposal.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas takes a positive view of the contents of today’s speech by US President Joe Biden,” the statement said. “The Movement expresses its position that it is ready to respond positively and constructively to any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of displaced people to their homes and the conclusion of a serious prisoner exchange agreement, provided that there is a clear commitment from the occupying forces.”
Former President Barack Obama, in a rare statement about the current situation, said the ceasefire proposal was “clear, realistic and fair”.
“A ceasefire alone will not ease the terrible pain of Israelis whose loved ones have been massacred or abducted by Hamas, or Palestinians whose families have been torn apart in the war that followed,” Obama said. “It will not resolve the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, nor will it answer contentious questions about a two-state solution or continued settler activity in the West Bank. But it will stop the ongoing bloodshed, help reunite families, and enable a surge in humanitarian aid to help desperate and hungry people.”
Israel’s four-and-a-half-page proposal was submitted to Hamas on Thursday night and is broadly consistent with an agreement the group has recently proposed, according to a senior U.S. official.
“This is almost identical to Hamas’ own proposal just a few weeks ago, so if that’s what Hamas wants, they can accept the deal,” the official said.
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure the hostages’ release were suspended three weeks ago after the two sides failed to reach agreement on several conditions.
Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it was “ready to reach a comprehensive agreement” including a full exchange of hostages and prisoners if Israel halted its war in Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement that it had responded “flexibly and positively” to efforts by mediators through previous indirect talks, but that Israel had used months of negotiations as a cover to continue its war in Gaza.
“Hamas and the Palestinian factions will not accept any part in this policy of continued negotiations in the face of aggression, murder, siege, starvation and genocide against our people,” the Hamas statement said.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war must continue until Hamas is destroyed.
Speaking at the White House, Biden acknowledged that divisions within Israel could prevent a hostage deal from being reached.
“I know there are people in Israel, some within the coalition government, who do not agree with this plan and want the war to continue indefinitely,” he said, a blunt reference to hardliners within Netanyahu’s government who are resisting mediation efforts to end the conflict.
“They’ve made it very clear that they want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years, and hostages are not a priority for them,” Biden said.
While Biden did not name anyone in his speech, he previously singled out National Security Minister Itamar Bengvir as one of the people within Netanyahu’s governing coalition who is making it difficult to make progress.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefed the foreign ministers of Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on the Israeli proposal on Friday.
The call between the top U.S. diplomats, made from a plane en route back to Washington from a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Prague, is seen as just the beginning of a diplomatic push to get Hamas to accept the deal. A senior State Department official said Blinken was due to hold further calls with the foreign ministers on Saturday.
Blinken outlined “the benefits of the agreement” in the call on Friday, saying he “briefed the ministers on the agreement that was sent to Hamas last night and made sure they understood the benefits for the Palestinian people, for Israel and for the long-term security plan that we have been working on,” the official told reporters accompanying Blinken.
Blinken said it was up to Hamas to accept the agreement without delay, and stressed that countries with ties to Hamas, particularly Turkey, should urge Hamas to accept the agreement.
The official stressed that the proposal was “substantially different” from previous ones because it would lead to a permanent ceasefire.
The official said the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan had not been briefed on the specific terms of the proposed agreement before the call with Blinken.
The official said one of the reasons the United States made the terms of the agreement public was to prevent inaccurate information from leaking and jeopardizing the proposal.
“It is important that the whole world knows the details of this proposal,” the official said.
In his speech, Biden directly appealed to ordinary Israelis to voice their support for a hostage agreement that would lead to a ceasefire.
“We need your help. All those who want peace now must speak up and let our leaders know they must accept this agreement. Work to make it a reality, to make it last, and to build a better future from this tragic terrorist attack and this war,” he said.
Biden also spoke directly to Americans who have criticized the violence in Gaza, acknowledging that too many civilians have been killed and calling the situation “one of the most difficult and complex in the world.”
“We all saw the horrific images earlier this week of the deadly fires that erupted in Rafah after Israeli attacks targeted Hamas,” Biden said in his first comments since the attack killed dozens of civilians. “We have worked to increase assistance to Gaza, but the humanitarian crisis remains.”
The president, who returned to the White House from his Delaware coastal home in the early hours of the morning, had avoided commenting on the situation in Israel in recent days.
Earlier, Israel said on Friday its troops had entered the central Gaza city of Rafah, after President Biden warned it should not be targeted in a major ground offensive.
The White House called images of the tragedy “heartbreaking” but said the incident did not cross President Biden’s red line of suspending some U.S. arms exports to Israel.
In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett this month, the president said the US would limit arms supplies to Israel if Israeli forces “invaded Rafah.”
But Biden has remained vague about how he would quantify such a move, sparking frustration and some confusion over the stance. Many Democrats and foreign leaders the U.S. considers allies have said Israel’s actions clearly crossed a line — if not Biden’s, then their own and international law.
White House officials sought to explain Biden’s stance this week, suggesting a “major ground invasion” of the city would be an indicator of any change in policy.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond Hamdi Alkhshari, Karim Kadar, Annie Grayer, Anneclaire Stapleton and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
