The Age & Sydney Morning Herald | Aamer Madhani (Chris Megerian, Darlene Superville, AP, Bloomberg) | 2 June 2024
Please God let all sides agree to any proposal that stops the killing and Genocide – Mark
US President Joe Biden has detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the nearly eight-month-old war.
Biden said Hamas was ‘‘no longer capable’’ of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release the remaining hostages for an extended ceasefire.
The Democratic president in remarks from the White House called the proposal ‘‘a road map to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages’’.
Biden said the first phase of the proposed deal would last for six weeks and would include a ‘‘full and complete ceasefire’’, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
US hostages would be released at this stage, and the remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families. Humanitarian assistance would surge during the first phase, with 600 trucks being allowed into Gaza each day.
The second phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. ‘‘And as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, the temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, ‘the cessation of hostilities permanently’,’’ Biden said.
The third phase calls for the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from devastation caused by the war. The 4 1/2-page Israeli proposal was transmitted to Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the US, Australia and European Union among others, on Thursday.
Biden acknowledged keeping the Israeli proposal on track would be difficult, saying there were a number of ‘‘details to negotiate’’ to move from the first phase to the second. His remarks came as the Israeli military confirmed its forces were now operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city.
But even as Biden pressed for the ‘‘war to end and for the day after to begin’’, Israeli officials have made clear they remain committed to a military defeat of Hamas.
Read More……….
New plan to end Gaza war – The Age, 6/2/2024 (smedia.com.au)
