Home WORLD Joe Biden urges Hamas to accept Gaza ceasefire deal by Ramzan

Joe Biden urges Hamas to accept Gaza ceasefire deal by Ramzan

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US President Joe Biden has called on Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal in Gaza by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Palestinian militant group has warned that talks for a truce and hostage release cannot go on indefinitely.
As famine threatens the people of Gaza, the US and Jordanian planes have airdropped food aid into the besieged territory. This joint operation with Egypt and France aims to provide assistance to the 2.4 million people in Gaza.
US vice president Kamala Harris has expressed deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that children are dying of starvation in two northern Gaza hospitals.
Hamas and the United States have been meeting with Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo for negotiations over a six-week truce. The discussions also involve the exchange of hostages and the flow of aid to Gaza.
According to Egypt’s Al-Qahera News, the talks will continue for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.
President Biden has warned Hamas to agree to a Gaza truce before Ramadan, as continuing the conflict into Ramadan could be very dangerous for Israel and Jerusalem. The United States has previously urged Israel to allow Muslims to worship at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during Ramadan.
The talks in Cairo have not included Israel so far, as Israeli delegates boycotted the negotiations due to Hamas’s failure to provide a list of living hostages. However, Hamas officials have stated that the prisoners’ details were not mentioned in any documents or proposals circulated during the negotiation process.
Hamas has made it clear that they will not allow the path of negotiations to be open indefinitely.
Israel believes that 130 of the 250 captives taken by Hamas fighters in their October 7 attack remain in Gaza, with 31 reported to have been killed.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani have met and agreed that the release of sick, wounded, elderly, and women hostages would result in an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for at least six weeks.
The first phase of the ceasefire would enable a surge of humanitarian assistance to Gaza’s people and provide time and space for more enduring arrangements and sustained calm.
Israel is facing increasing criticism from the United States as conditions in Gaza deteriorate and famine looms. Vice president Harris met with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz in Washington to address the humanitarian crisis.
The WHO reported that 10 children had died of starvation at Gaza hospitals. In Khan Yunis, people described finding decomposing bodies in streets lined with destroyed buildings.
American cargo planes, along with Jordanian, French, and Egyptian planes, airdropped more than 36,000 meals into Gaza on Tuesday.
The United Nations‘ World Food Programme stated that Israeli troops turned away an aid convoy to northern Gaza, which was later looted by desperate people.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas has resulted in a significant number of casualties, with civilians being the most affected. Tensions have also arisen between Israel and the United Nations over allegations of sexual assault by Hamas militants during the October attack.
The war has sparked violence across the West Asia region, including clashes between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. The US military has reported shooting down three drones and a missile fired towards one of its destroyers in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen, on Tuesday.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The anger over Israel’s Gaza campaign has led to increased violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.