United States President Joe Biden said that he hopes there will be a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by “next Monday”. On Monday, the US President made an appearance at an ice cream shop with comedian Seth Meyers in New York when he was asked about the ceasefire.
“Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean, the end of the weekend,” Biden said, adding: “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close, it’s not done yet. And my hope is that by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”
Biden’s statement came as the warring parties met in Qatar and appeared to close in on a deal during negotiations that also aim to broker the release of hostages, as per a Reuters report.
#UPDATE US President Joe Biden says he hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza by next week.
“My national security advisor tells me that we’re close… My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,” he said.
Biden spoke as he got ice cream with comedian Seth Meyers in New York. pic.twitter.com/US0sAz21sI
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 26, 2024
Both sides were present in the city for so-called proximity talks and the mediators separately met both sides, though, in the same city suggesting that negotiations were further along than at any time since the big push at the start of February, the Reuters report added.
Earlier this month, Israel had rejected a counter-offer by Hamas and a four-and-a-half month truce.
As per a US official, negotiators from Washington have been pushing hard to get a pause-for-hostage deal by Ramadan which is expected to begin on March 10 and the US officials have working on the issue since last week.
The optimism appeared to grow out of meetings between the Israelis and Qataris, the report stated quoting the US official as saying.
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However, both Israel and Hamas publicly continue to take far-apart positions on a possible ceasefire, while blaming each other for stalling the move.
Following a meeting between the Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the former said that his group had embraced efforts to find an end to the war while accusing Israel of delaying as Palestinians in Gaza die under siege.
“We will not allow the enemy to use negotiations as a cover for this crime,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said he was ready for a deal, though asked Hamas to drop its demand branding it as being “from another planet.” “Obviously, we want this deal if we can have it. It depends on Hamas. It’s really now their decision,” he told U.S. network Fox News. “They have to come down to reality,” said Netanyahu.
