US President Joe Biden said that he discussed – at the G7 summit held in Italy – a ceasefire in Gaza, and ruled out reaching an agreement between the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas and Israel soon.
The US President added – in a speech during the group’s summit in the city of Bari – that he has not lost hope in reaching this goal. He stressed that Hamas must intensify its efforts, he said.
Biden said in a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Italy summit, “Hamas is the biggest obstacle now to implementing the ceasefire plan and releasing the hostages in Gaza.”
He added, “I presented an approach that was approved by the Security Council, the G7 and Israel, and the biggest obstacle so far is Hamas’ refusal to sign even though it proposed something similar. It remains to be seen whether that will bear fruit. We will continue the pressure.”
When asked whether he was confident that a ceasefire agreement would be reached between Hamas and Israel soon, the US President replied, “No,” adding, “I have not lost hope, but it will be difficult.”
In turn, the US State Department said that Secretary Anthony Blinken discussed – during his visit to the Middle East this week – how Washington can work with regional partners “to establish effective and safe governance and reconstruction in Gaza.”
The Foreign Ministry confirmed that Washington is pushing the Israelis in the same way that Qatar and Egypt are pushing Hamas to conduct negotiations in good faith. She added that the United States is working to transform the ceasefire into an end to the conflict, and to transform the end of the conflict into lasting peace.
She pointed out that there are many complex issues that must be worked on, and the best environment for this is when there is a ceasefire.
Gratitude to Qatar
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed his country’s gratitude to Qatar, which he described as an “exceptional partner” of the United States.
Miller added during a press conference that the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani “worked tirelessly and continues to work tirelessly to try to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and return the detainees to their homelands.”
Qatar and Egypt – in cooperation with the United States, have been seeking for months to reach an agreement between Hamas and Israel that would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of prisoners and detainees, but indirect talks between the two parties that take place through mediators have not succeeded to date in reaching an agreement.
An ongoing movement in Israel
Meanwhile, protests by families of prisoners detained in Gaza continue in Tel Aviv, and dozens of government opponents have closed one of the main streets north of the city by burning car tires and igniting smoke bombs.
The demonstrators raised a banner reading, “Enough with the government of ruin,” demanding early elections. They also demanded an immediate exchange deal and chanted that the fate of the prisoners was in the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
For his part, the leader of the Israeli “State Camp” party, Benny Gantz, said that he decided to leave the government with great regret, and stressed in a television interview that Netanyahu should have been more courageous and concluded an exchange deal.
Hamas confirms its position
For its part, Hamas said that it expressed a positive position on Biden’s speech, while it only heard from Netanyahu the continuation of the war of extermination.
Hamas added – in a statement yesterday, Thursday – that it had agreed to the proposal that it received from the mediators on May 5, while Netanyahu responded by attacking Rafah.
She called on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the Biden administration to put pressure on the occupation government that insists on completing what it described as the mission of killing and extermination. The movement added that Blinken is talking about Israel’s approval of the latest proposal, while it has not heard this approval from any Israeli official.
Hamas said that the Netanyahu government continued to reject any permanent ceasefire, in contradiction with the Security Council resolution and the Biden initiative.
Regarding the Security Council resolution, which the movement welcomed, Hamas said that the world had not heard any Israeli welcome or approval of it.
