2024-03-02 05:49:37
US President Joe Biden said yesterday evening, Friday, that he hopes to reach a ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel by the month of Ramadan, while an Israeli official called on the families of the prisoners to intensify pressure on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a prisoner exchange deal.
In response to a question regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement on a truce in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of hostages by that date, Biden replied, “I hope so. We are still working a lot on the issue. We have not reached that yet.”
Earlier yesterday, Biden confirmed that the United States would begin participating in airdrops of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, in light of the catastrophic conditions they are facing as the Israeli war on the Strip continues.
The US President’s statements come at a time when the United Nations and several countries called for a ceasefire in Gaza for humanitarian reasons, demanding an investigation following the Israeli occupation army opened fire on Palestinian civilians, and a stampede occurred during the distribution of aid last Thursday, which led to the death of more than 110 people.
In a related context, 28 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to President Biden supporting a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
The lawmakers, who are pro-Israel, wrote that a temporary truce would not only help release hostages and provide relief to millions of civilians; Rather, it will open a path to ending the conflict permanently.
The lawmakers added that in order to achieve this outcome, the United States must work with the Palestinians and Israelis to create an interim recovery administration to secure Gaza until a permanent government is formed.
The letter also urged Israel to work with Egypt and the United States to facilitate the sustainable entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Pressure on the government
In Tel Aviv, Major General Nitzan Alon, who is responsible for the issue of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, called on the families of these prisoners to intensify pressure at the political level to push their government to conclude a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Yesterday, the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Alon “sent a message through his charge d’affaires to the families of the prisoners in Gaza, during his meetings with them several times, in which he asked them to intensify pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to conclude an exchange deal.”
The Commission indicated that the families of the prisoners, who participated in the meetings with Acting Alon during the past few weeks, got the impression that there are those within the government who are slowing down and preventing reaching an agreement.
What was revealed by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority coincides with the announcement by the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas movement – yesterday that 7 Israeli prisoners were killed in a bombing of their army, weeks following losing contact with them, bringing the total number of deaths detained in the Gaza Strip to 70.
Al-Qassam confirmed, in a statement, that it had been keen all along to preserve the lives of the prisoners, but it had become clear that the enemy leadership was deliberately killing its prisoners to get rid of this file.
Qatar, along with Egypt and America, is sponsoring negotiations to reach a prisoner exchange deal and a truce in the Gaza Strip between the Palestinian factions and Israel, but no tangible progress has been announced so far.
Hamas demands a final ceasefire before reaching any agreement on the release of Israeli detainees, as well as the lifting of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and the entry of more humanitarian aid.
On the other hand, Israel stresses that the truce must be accompanied by the release of all Israeli detainees, and that it does not mean the end of the war, stressing that it will continue its military operations until the complete elimination of Hamas.
Since October 7, the Israeli war on Gaza has resulted in tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian and UN data, which required Israel to appear, for the first time since 1948, before the International Court of Justice. On charges of committing “genocide”.
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