TEL AVIV, Israel – The The White House said on Sunday US President Joe Biden spoke again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as pressure mounts on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a ceasefire in the nearly seven-month war in Gaza.
The White House said Biden reiterated his “clear position” as Israel plans to invade the city of Rafah on the southern tip of Gaza, despite global concern about more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there. The US opposes the invasion on humanitarian grounds, damaging relations between the allies. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to the Middle East on Monday.
Biden also emphasized that progress in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza will be “sustained and improved,” according to the statement. It was less blunt than the previous appeal this month, in which Biden warned that future US support for Israel in the war depends on quickly implementing new measures to protect civilians and aid workers. There was no comment from Netanyahu’s office on the latest call.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the main intermediary, Qatar, urged Israel and Hamas to show “more commitment and more seriousness” in the negotiations. Qatar, which hosts Hamas headquarters in Doha, was instrumental, along with the US and Egypt, in helping negotiate a brief suspension. to the fighting in November that led to the release of dozens of hostages. But in a sign of frustration, Qatar said this month it was reassessing its role.
An Israeli delegation is expected in Egypt in the coming days to discuss the latest proposals in the negotiations, and senior Hamas official Basem Naim said in a message to the Associated Press that a delegation from the militant group will also go to Cairo. Egypt’s state-owned Al Qahera News satellite television channel said the delegation would arrive on Monday.
Comments by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari, in interviews with the liberal daily Haaretz and Israeli public broadcaster Kan, were published and broadcast on Saturday night.
Al-Ansari expressed disappointment with Hamas and Israel, saying each side made decisions based on political interests and not with the well-being of civilians in mind. He did not reveal details about the negotiations, only saying that they “effectively stopped”, with “both sides entrenched in their positions”.
Al-Ansari’s remarks came after an Egyptian delegation discussed with Israeli officials a “new vision” for an extended ceasefire in Gaza, according to an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss developments.
The Egyptian official said that Israeli authorities are open to discussing the establishment of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as part of the second phase of an agreement. Israel refused to end the war until it defeated Hamas.
The second phase would begin after the release of civilian and sick hostages and would include negotiating the release of soldiers, the official added. Senior Palestinian prisoners would be released and a reconstruction process would be launched.
Negotiations earlier this month centered on a proposed six-week ceasefire and the release of 40 civilian hostages and patients held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
A letter written by Biden and 17 other world leaders urged Hamas to immediately release its citizens. In recent days, Hamas has released new videos of three hostages, an apparent push for Israel to make concessions.
The growing pressure for Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement also aims to prevent an Israeli attack on Rafah, the city on the border with Egypt where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants seek shelter. Israel has concentrated dozens of tanks and armored vehicles. The planned incursion raised global alarm.
“All it takes is a small strike to force everyone to leave Palestine,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at the opening session of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia, adding that he believed an invasion would happen within days.
But White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC that Israel “has assured us that it will not enter Rafah until we have an opportunity to really share our perspectives and concerns with them.
The increase in Israeli troops could also be a pressure tactic on Hamas in negotiations. Israel sees Rafah as Hamas’ last major stronghold. It promises to destroy the group’s military and government capabilities.
Aid groups have warned that an invasion of Rafah would worsen the already desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza, where hunger is widespread. Around 400 tons of aid arrived on Sunday at the Israeli port of Ashdod – the largest shipment ever made by sea via Cyprus – according to the United Arab Emirates. It was not immediately clear how or when it would be delivered to Gaza.
Also on Sunday, World Central Kitchen said it would resume operations in Gaza on Monday, ending a four-week suspension after Israeli military drones killed seven of its aid workers. The organization has 276 trucks ready to enter through the Rafah crossing and will also send trucks from Jordan to Gaza, a statement said. It is also examining whether the Ashdod port can be used to offload supplies.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities, who say another 250 people were taken hostage. Hamas and other groups detain about 130 people, including the remains of about 30, Israeli authorities say.
Israel’s retaliatory attack on Hamas killed more than 34,000 people, most of them women and children, according to health authorities in Gaza, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their records.
The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of settling in residential and public areas. He claims to have killed at least 12 thousand militants, without providing evidence.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
