US President Joe Biden said he hopes to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza by the weekend.
His comments came during an outing with late-night talk show host Seth Myers, during which Biden was seen eating ice cream.
Asked by reporters when the deal would be finalized, the US president, holding a mint ice cream cone in his hand, said he hoped it would be finalized “by the end of the weekend.”
“My national security adviser tells me they are very close,” he said. “They’re close. They’re not done yet. I hope next Monday we can have a ceasefire.”
Hamas has received a draft proposal for Gaza truce talks in Paris that would suspend military operations and involve exchanging Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages, according to a senior source with knowledge of the negotiations.
Biden said Israel has agreed to halt military activities in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Monday, March 11, and that Hamas is studying the proposal.
“Ramadan is coming and the Israelis have made an agreement that they will not engage in any activities during Ramadan to give us time to rescue all the hostages,” he told NBC. Late Night with Seth Meyers exhibit.
U.S. and Israeli officials discussed the ceasefire proposal at a meeting with Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Paris last week.
Both Hamas and Israeli delegations are holding talks through mediators in Qatar this week.
What will a ceasefire agreement involve?
The first phase of the deal, which is expected to last 40 days, includes a 10-to-1 exchange of prisoners and hostages.
In exchange for 40 Israeli hostages, approximately 400 Palestinian prisoners will be released.
Both sides will completely halt military operations and aerial reconnaissance operations over Gaza will be suspended for eight hours a day.
All Israeli hostages, including women, children under 19, seniors aged 50 and over and the sick, will be released in the same 10-to-1 ratio.
All displaced civilians, except men of school age, will gradually return to the northern Gaza Strip.
Once the first phase begins, Israel will redeploy its forces away from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
About 500 humanitarian aid trucks, 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans will be provided.
Gaza’s hospitals and bakeries will be allowed to repair. Necessary equipment will be allowed to enter without delay, and fuel transportation will be provided for this purpose. Fuel shipment quantities have not yet been agreed upon.
Israel has agreed to allow heavy machinery and equipment in to clear the rubble and help achieve humanitarian goals. Hamas has pledged not to use the machines to threaten Israel.
It is understood that arrangements agreed in the first phase will not apply to the second phase, which will be negotiated subsequently.
What do Israel and Hamas say about the ceasefire?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’s last-ditch ceasefire offer, calling it “delusional.”
The proposal calls for the release of all hostages, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and an agreement to end the war.
The new proposals being considered by Hamas include some initial ceasefire demands, according to a senior source with knowledge of the negotiations.
Mr Netanyahu told Fox News: “Obviously we want to make this deal if we can. It’s up to Hamas. It’s really their decision now. They have to get back to reality.”
Israel continues to publicly insist it will not end the war until Hamas is eliminated, while Hamas has said it will not release the hostages without a deal to end the war.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Monday that any ceasefire would need to “ensure an end to aggression, withdrawal of occupation, return of displaced persons, access to aid, housing equipment and reconstruction.”
The United States has been pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire and stop threatening attacks on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. More than half of the 2.3 million residents of the Rafah enclave have been displaced by Israeli bombing and are seeking refuge.
“They have made a commitment to me that they will ensure the ability to evacuate most of Rafah and then the rest,” Biden said. [of] Hamas…but it’s a process. “
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