Negotiators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar are working on a framework agreement under which Hamas would release some of the dozens of captives in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week ceasefire in the fighting. During this temporary truce, talks would continue for the handover of the rest of the hostages.
Israel did not immediately react to Biden’s remarks, which were made public early Tuesday.
The start of Ramadan, around March 10, is considered the unofficial deadline for reaching a ceasefire agreement. It is a month of great religiosity in which hundreds of millions of Muslims fast from dawn to dusk around the world.
Biden said Monday that he hopes a ceasefire could go into effect next week. During the pause, negotiations would continue for the release of the remaining hostages and other prisoners held by Israel.
“Ramadan is approaching and there has been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not carry out activities during Ramadan to give us time to get all the hostages out,” said the president in his appearance on the program “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” , from NBC television.
But Biden did not call for an end to the war sparked by Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The US president left the door open to a possible Israeli ground offensive on the southern city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where more than half of the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip have fled following orders. evacuation of Israel.
The possibility of an invasion of Rafah has sparked global alarm over the fate of Gazan civilians trapped there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains that the ground operation in the city is an inevitable component of his strategy to crush Hamas.
Biden said Monday that he believes Israel has slowed its bombing of Rafah. “They have to do it and they have committed to me that they are going to try to evacuate significant parts of Rafah before going in and removing what is left of Hamas (…) but it is a process,” he added.
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