President Joe Biden told reporters Monday he hopes a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas could materialize within the next week, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was working on a deal that would get its hostages released.
Biden told reporters about a potential cease-fire on Monday. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
Biden, who was visiting a Manhattan ice cream shop after appearing on a taping of Seth Myers’ late night NBC talk show, said he hopes a cease-fire would come “by the end of the weekend.”
Biden said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told him “we’re close” to a deal but noted an official agreement hasn’t been reached.
Biden didn’t offer any details on the terms of the potential cease-fire, but in the past, he has called for a six-week cessation of fighting and the release of hostages held by Hamas as part of a deal, and negotiators are reportedly discussing a cease-fire that could last the holy month of Ramadan.
The president has been pushing for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip so additional humanitarian aid can reach the enclave, which has faced months of fighting since Hamas attacked southern Israel and the Israeli military invaded Gaza.
A cease-fire deal could also include a hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, as Netanyahu said in a tweet Saturday the Israeli government was “working to obtain another outline for the release of our hostages.”
The only prolonged cessation of fighting since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack was a multi-day pause in late November. As part of that days-long pause, Hamas released about 100 hostages held in Gaza, and Israel released about 240 Palestinian prisoners, according to NBC News.
Israel and Hamas have not agreed on a cease-fire since one was secured last November. Netanyahu turned down Hamas’ four-and-a-half month cease-fire and hostage release proposal early February, which involved the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, saying at a press conference there’s “no other solution but a complete and final victory.” After vetoing a UN resolution pushing for an immediate cease-fire, the United States has more vocally pushed for a pause in fighting and hostage release deal in recent weeks, as casualties in the densely populated Gaza Strip mount, and as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. More than 29,000 people in Gaza and about 1,200 in Israel have been killed since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry and Israeli officials, respectively.