President Joe Biden called on Hamas to accept the current ceasefire proposal while his administration eagerly awaits the terrorist group’s response.
It’s “now up to Hamas,” the president said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio. “They need to move on the proposal that has been made.”
The U.S. government has worked with its counterparts in Egypt and Qatar to negotiate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The trio of governments successfully negotiated a weeklong ceasefire agreement in late November, where about half of the 253 hostages held by Hamas were released, but they have yet to get both sides to come to a second cessation of fighting.
CIA Director Bill Burns met with fellow negotiators in Cairo last weekend, where he presented the United States’s latest proposal. It included a pause in fighting for six weeks, the release of vulnerable Israeli hostages first, and would allow for a surge in direly needed humanitarian aid.
U.S. officials are awaiting Hamas’s response to the proposal, which could take a couple of days due to the difficulties the intermediaries have communicating with the leaders of the terrorist group. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said he urged Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al Thani to “secure an answer from [Hamas] as soon as possible.”
The U.S. proposed deal calls for the release of 40 of the remaining hostages — women, men over 50 years old, and men who are younger but in need of medical attention — during the initial pause in fighting. But Hamas has reportedly told negotiators it doesn’t have 40 hostages who meet the criteria, according to CNN. It’s unclear if this will be an impediment to a deal and how the two sides will work past this.
Vice President Kamala Harris met with family members of the five Americans still being held hostage by Hamas on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Israeli forces launched airstrikes killing seven aid workers in Gaza who were employed by World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization founded by famous chef Jose Andres. The strike, which Israeli leaders have expressed remorse over and investigated, infuriated leaders across the globe, including in the White House.
While Biden and his administration had publicly urged Israel to do more to prevent civilian casualties, the administration for the first time threatened to change its policy toward Israel and Gaza if Israel did not take concrete steps to improve the dire humanitarian situation throughout Gaza following the WCK strike.
“I have been very blunt and straightforward with the prime minister,” Biden said during Wednesday’s presser.
The president, during the press conference, said that over 100 aid trucks have gotten into Gaza in recent days but that it is “not enough.” Israel has said that more than 1,200 trucks have gotten into the strip over a three-day period, while a U.S. official told the Washington Examiner that the president meant to say “more than 1,000 trucks got in over [the] last three days.”
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Sullivan told reporters that the U.S. was pleased with some of the immediate changes, though he warned that the U.S. wanted to see sustained efforts.
“If you look at the last two days, there has been a substantial increase in the amount of aid going into Gaza. That’s good, it is not good enough,” Sullivan said on Tuesday. “We would like to see more action following through on what the prime minister has announced publicly. And we’d like to see that over the course of the next few days.”