US President Joe Biden said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “not doing enough” to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange, indicating that a final agreement is close to being reached on the matter.
“We are very close to reaching an agreement, and I don’t think Netanyahu is doing enough about it,” Biden was quoted as telling reporters in Washington by Israel’s Army Radio.
This comes at a time when the Washington Post quoted American officials as saying that the ongoing pressure exerted by Biden took a new form after the Israeli army announced the recovery of the bodies of six detainees, including the Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Pholin, indicating that Washington plans to present a final “take it or leave it” proposal to stop the war in Gaza.
The sources added that Washington is consulting with Doha and Cairo regarding the features of this proposal that it will present in the coming weeks, and that the failure of Israel or Hamas to accept this agreement may mean the end of the American-led negotiations.
Dangerous statements
Commenting on Biden’s statements, an Israeli official told Maariv newspaper that they were “dangerous statements, especially since they came days after Hamas executed 6 hostages, including an American.”
Israeli media also quoted an unnamed political official as saying, “It is strange that Biden is pressuring Netanyahu and not Sinwar, who rejects the deal.”
In contrast, the Israeli Prisoners Authority in Gaza said that Biden’s statements were “proof that Netanyahu is obstructing reaching a deal,” according to Israel’s Channel 12.
Biden’s statements come as massive demonstrations are taking place in Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, demanding a prisoner exchange deal and putting pressure on the government, after the announcement of the killing of 6 Israeli detainees in a tunnel in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which Hamas said were killed by Israeli army fire.
It also coincides with a strike in Israel by the Histadrut trade union federation, which began Monday morning, but the Tel Aviv court decided to end it in response to the government’s request.
The ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have reached a critical stage, due to Netanyahu’s insistence on continuing the war on the Strip, and not withdrawing from the Netzarim and Philadelphi axes in the center and south of the Strip, while Hamas insists on ending the war, returning the displaced, and an Israeli withdrawal from the entire Strip.