U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday the violence between Israel and Gaza must end immediately, seeking for Israel not to remain in Gaza when it ends the conflict. According to Biden, his proposed framework for a ceasefire has been accepted by both Israel and Hamas, although some outstanding issues still have to be agreed upon. He sent his team to the region to pin down the details. The proposal, put forward in the last days of May, has three phases: the implementation of a cease-fire; then, releasing the hostages in Gaza and prisoners that are Palestinian in Israel; the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and rebuilding.
CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk visited the Middle East to discuss the ceasefire settlement with regional counterparts. Biden recognized the intractability of the situation yet voiced confidence that things were moving forward, stating, "We're making progress. The trend is positive. I'm determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war, that should end now."
Hamas has accepted a major part of the U.S. proposal by removing insistence on an Israeli commitment to permanent ceasefire before it signs the agreement. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that any accord cannot bind Israel from returning to military operations until its goals have been completed, with the aim of destroying Hamas. The office of Mr Netanyahu issued a statement stressing that he would agree to a Gaza truce deal if Israel's conditions are met.
He complained about some instances when the State of Israel was less than cooperative and expressed frustration about a couple of non-successful initiatives, including the proposed drawdown by the U.S. military of its humanitarian pier off of Gaza's coast. Joseph Biden is being criticized by activists as rising civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip are tainting his administration's tightolulu= dollar support for Israel. As the conflict goes, so protests against the war and U.S. support for Israel run across America, a dozen U.S. officials resign over their opposition to Biden's Gaza policy. Antisemitism and islamophobia is on the rise in the U.S. during the conflict.
The latest round of violence erupted on 7 October when Hamas fighters mounted an assault across the southern border into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to the Israeli authorities. Hamas says its assault was retaliation for the killings in Jenin. Israel has responded with an attack on Gaza, in which the Gaza health ministry claims more than 38,000 Palestinians have already been killed, with nearly the entire 2.3 million population displaced; a hunger crisis unleashed; and accusations of genocide, which Israel vehemently denies.