Biden hopes to have Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in place by next week
CBC
U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday that he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that would pause hostilities, and allow for the remaining hostages held in Gaza to be released, can take effect by early next week.
"Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, by the end of the weekend," he told reporters in New York, when asked Monday when he expected a ceasefire to start.
"My national security adviser tells me that we're close. We're close. We're not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire."
Earlier on Monday, Biden said Israel would be willing to halt military activities in Gaza during the upcoming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan if a deal can reached to release some of the hostages.
Negotiators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar are working on a framework deal under which Hamas would free some of the dozens of hostages it holds, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week halt in fighting.
During the temporary pause, negotiations would continue over the release of the remaining hostages.
Biden made the remarks during an appearance on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers. Biden's remarks were recorded on Monday and broadcast on Tuesday.
The draft proposal, which a senior source close to truce talks in Paris told Reuters would allow hospitals and bakeries in Gaza to be repaired and 500 aid trucks to enter the battered enclave every day, is the most serious attempt in weeks to end the conflict which erupted in October last year.
Ramadan begins on the evening of March 10 this year and ends on the evening of April 9.
"Ramadan is coming up, and there's been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan, as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out," Biden said on Meyers's show.
In public, both sides continued to take positions far apart on the ultimate aims of a truce, while blaming each other for holding up the talks.
After meeting Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Ismail Haniyeh, the reclusive head of Hamas, said his group had embraced mediators' efforts to find an end to the war, and accused Israel of stalling while Gazans die under siege.
"We will not allow the enemy to use negotiations as a cover for this crime," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready for a deal, and it was now up to Hamas to drop demands he described as "outlandish" and "from another planet."
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