Biden speaks with Israel’s Netanyahu, urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently negotiating a ceasefire with American President Joe Biden, who has also emphasized the “imminent need” for a truce as well as the release of Israeli prisoners detained in the Palestinian enclave.

Before President-elect Donald Trump resigns from office on January 20th, Biden is asked to make a deal to put an end to the fighting.

The negotiations, mediated over the past year by the US, Egypt and Qatar, have repeatedly stalled at moments when they seemed close to a deal. Still, in recent days, US officials have expressed hope of sealing an agreement.

The latest round is taking place in the Qatari capital, Doha, with the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, as well as Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, both attending the talks.

Barnea’s presence, confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, means high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved in the talks.

McGurk has been working on final details of a text to be presented to both sides, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN’s “State of the Union”. However, he claimed he would not be able to predict whether a deal can be reached by the inauguration’s day, January 20.

“We are very, very close”, he said. Being very close does not mean we’re far because we’re not there until you actually cross the finish line.

According to the White House, the ongoing discussions in Doha are aimed at reaching a conclusion based on Biden’s proposed gradual ceasefire, which was later approved by the UN Security Council.

According to the White House, Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid facilitated by a stoppage in the fighting under the agreement.”

For his part, Netanyahu thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel, according to the White House readout. The Israeli prime minister has previously stated that he is only interested in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which calls for the release of some prisoners in exchange for a week-long halt in fighting.

Hamas, however, has insisted on a full Israeli troop withdrawal from the largely devastated territory, but Netanyahu remains intent on destroying the group’s ability to fight in Gaza.

In the discussions, the participants discussed the terms of any Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza’s population centers, the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be freed, and the length of any Israeli captive release.

Hamdah Salhut, a journalist from Jordan, reported on Al Jazeera that the Israeli team in Qatar is expected to remain there for at least another day to finalize a deal.

She noted that Netanyahu’s coalition and Hamas are at odds with one another over a ceasefire, despite the fact that they have exchanged blame for the delay in reaching a deal.

Netanyahu has even spoken to far-right members, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to try to woo them into the idea of a deal, according to her statement. “Members of the far-right have said they will vote against it.” Netanyahu has reportedly prodded the conflict and refused to reach a deal because he fears it will lead to the demise of his government in Israel, according to a school of thought in Israel. But nonetheless, these talks are still ongoing as mediators are scrambling to get a deal”.

The talks come as Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip repeatedly, particularly the north of the region, which has been under a brutal siege for more than 100 days. According to medical sources in Gaza, 5, 000 people have been killed or missing as a result of the attacks.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46, 000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, and displaced more than 90 percent of the territory’s population from their homes. The brutal war, which some UN experts describe as “genocide”, began in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which Palestinian fighters killed 1, 200 people and took some 250 others captive.

Source: Aljazeera