WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has said that the Israel-Hamas war must end now and Israel must not occupy the Gaza Strip after the war, telling reporters his truce framework had been agreed on by both Hamas and Israel but there were still gaps to close.
“That outline is now agreed on by both Hamas and Israel. So I sent my team to the region to hammer out the details,” Joe Biden said in a news conference.
US Middle East Ambassador Brett McGurk and CIA Director Bill Burns were in the region this week meeting with regional partners to discuss the truce deal.
“These are complex issues. There are still gaps to close. We are making progress. The trend is positive. I am determined to get this agreement done and bring an end to the ongoing war, which should end now,” The US President said in the press conference.
Hamas has accepted a key part of a US plan, dropping a demand that Israel first pledge to a permanent truce before signing the deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the agreement must not stop Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives are met. At the outset of the war, Netanyahu promised to annihilate Hamas.
President Biden said that Israel must not occupy the Gaza Strip while also offering criticism of Israel’s war cabinet, saying “Israel was less than cooperative.”
Joe Biden expressed disappointment at some of his measures not having succeeded in the Gaza Strip, citing the planned winding down of the US army’s humanitarian pier off the coast of Gaza as an example.
Biden’s administration has faced global criticism for its continuing support of Israel in the face of increasing civilian casualties.
The US, Israel’s key ally, has seen months of protests around the country in opposition to the war and to Washington’s support for Israel.
A dozen US administration officials have tendered resignation, citing opposition to Biden’s Gaza policy.
The Gaza health ministry has said that since October 7 more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive on the coastal enclave, which has displaced around all its 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide.
