Joe Biden hopes Gaza ceasefire in place by ‘next Monday’ as talks continue in Qatar

US President Joe Biden said he expects a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza to begin by next Monday (March 4) as the two warring sides appeared to reach an agreement during talks in Qatar, which also aim to mediate Is. Release of hostages.

The presence of both sides for the so-called proximity talks – meeting separately from the mediators but in the same city – shows that talks have moved further than at any time since a major effort in early February, when Israel Had rejected Hamas’ counter proposal. Four and a half month ceasefire.

Biden said on Monday that he expected a ceasefire to begin within days.

When asked when he expected the ceasefire to begin, he said, “I hope by the beginning of the weekend, by the end of the weekend.”

“My national security adviser told me we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. I hope we have a ceasefire by next Monday,” Biden told reporters during a visit to New York. “

A US official said US negotiators were working hard to hold off a deal for the hostages until the start of Ramadan on March 10 and top US officials were working on the issue last week.

The official said the meetings between Israel and Qatar appear to be increasing optimism.

Publicly, Israel and Hamas continued to take far-from positions on a potential ceasefire, while blaming each other for delays.

After meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, reclusive Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said his group had embraced efforts to end the war, and accused Israel of complicity in the deaths of Gazans in the siege. Is hindering it.

“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 that it was up to Hamas to drop its demands, which he described as “from another planet”.

“Obviously, if we can make this deal we want this deal. It’s up to Hamas. It’s really their decision now,” he told US network Fox News. “They have to come to reality.”

Al Thani’s office said Al Thani and the Hamas chief had discussed Qatar’s efforts to reach an “immediate and permanent ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip”.

An Israeli working delegation had gone to Qatar to set up an operations center to support the talks, a source previously told Reuters.

Its mission will include investigating Palestinian terrorists whom Hamas wants to free in a proposed hostage release deal, the source said.

Israel has publicly stated that it will not end the war until Hamas is eliminated, while Hamas says it will not free the hostages without an agreement to end the war.

“We are absolutely committed to eradicating Hamas from the face of the earth,” Israel’s Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat told Reuters at a conference in the United Arab Emirates. Palestinian militants.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Monday that any ceasefire agreement would require “an end to aggression, withdrawal of occupation, return of displaced persons, entry of aid, shelter equipment and reconstruction.”

Israel is under pressure from its main ally the US to quickly agree a ceasefire to prevent a threatened attack on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than half of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are taking refuge. Washington fears it could lead to a bloodbath.

‘We will go inside’

Netanyahu insisted that the attack on Rafah was still planned, and that Israel had a plan to evacuate civilians out of harm’s way.

Asked whether Israel would attack even if Washington said no, Netanyahu said, “Okay, we will go in. Obviously we make our own decisions, but based on the idea of ​​evacuating people.” Will go inside.” citizen.”

The pace of talks appears to have picked up since Friday (23 February), when Israeli officials met in Paris to discuss the terms of a hostage-release deal with delegations from the US, Egypt and Qatar, though not with Hamas.

Israel has launched an all-out ground assault on Gaza as Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 253 hostages on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza health officials, with nearly 30,000 confirmed dead. Is.

In a development that could have implications for long-term negotiations, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited civilian control over parts of the West Bank, stepped down on Monday.

Mohammed Shtayyeh said he was resigning to build a broad consensus among Palestinians about a political arrangement after the Gaza war.

The PA, which is recognized by the West as the official representative of the Palestinians, lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.

Washington has called for PA reform as part of an overall solution to governing the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, after the war.