Biden 'stressed the urgency’ of bringing cease-fire talks to a close during call with Netanyahu

WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden stressed the need to conclude negotiations over an agreement to bring a cease-fire to the besieged Gaza Strip and free the hostages being held there during a call Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The President stressed the urgency of bringing the cease-fire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles," the White House said in a brief statement.

It added that Biden and Netanyahu "discussed active and ongoing US efforts to support Israel’s defense against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, to include ongoing defensive US military deployments."

The call came amid an impasse in the negotiations as the parties are set to reconvene in Cairo, Egypt by the end of the week for a meeting that a US official said last week will seek to conclude months-long talks.

The latest round of mediated negotiations ended Friday in Doha, Qatar with the US presenting the parties with what the White House described as a "final bridging proposal" that it put on the table for Israel and Hamas, claiming it is consistent with the principles supported by Biden on May 31.

The details of the proposal remain shrouded in secrecy.

But Hamas has since rejected the proposal, saying it aligns with Netanyahu’s new conditions.

It said the "proposal meets Netanyahu's conditions and aligns with them, particularly his refusal of a permanent cease-fire, (of) a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction, the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor."

The Palestinian group was referring to two strips of land in Gaza, one of which was recently built by Israel and separates the coastal territory into a northern and southern section. The Philadelphi Corridor follows the Gaza-Egypt border. The Rafah border crossing sits along the Philadelphi Corridor.

Hamas has long insisted on the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the permanent end to the war as part of any cease-fire deal. But Netanyahu has dismissed the conditions, maintaining his troops will remain in Gaza for as long as he deems necessary.

“He (Netanyahu) also set new conditions in the hostage swap file and retracted from other terms, which obstructs the completion of the deal,” Hamas added.

The group reiterated its commitment to what it agreed on in July based on a plan for a cease-fire that Biden publicly laid out in May, and which a UN Security Council resolution endorsed in June.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’s demands to stop the war.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The conflict has resulted in over 40,170 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and more than 92,740 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.