I’m Hoping That By Next Weekend: Biden Signals Ceasefire While Israelis and Hamas Engage in Qatari Negotiations

Washington: According to CNN, US President Joe Biden expressed optimism that a truce in the Israel-Hamas war will be reached “next Monday.” When asked when a ceasefire may begin, Biden said, “Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean, the end of the weekend.” We’re near, my national security advisor assures me. We’re not quite done, but we’re close. And by Monday of next week, I hope, we’ll have a cease-fire,” Biden said.

According to CNN, Hamas earlier withdrew a number of significant demands in prisoner talks and called for a ceasefire in Gaza after Israel branded its stance as “delusional.” According to a senior Biden administration source, “the major obstacles have been resolved in terms of Hamas insisting on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war.” “Hamas has lowered its demands for the quantity of Palestinians [prisoners] who would need to be released.”

Numerous nations, including Egypt, Qatar, the US, and France, have been mediating between Israel and Hamas amid a dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian area. Their goals are to gain the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza and to put a stop to the hostilities.

“Some new amendments” were made on controversial areas, according to a Hamas source who spoke to AFP, but “Israel did not present any substantive position on the terms of the ceasefire and the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called the demand for army withdrawals “delusional” and said that any agreement to end hostilities would just postpone a military invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza metropolis where some 1.4 million Palestinians have taken refuge due to violence elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli media claimed that military and intelligence personnel were traveling to Qatar for more negotiations on an agreement, and on February 26, an unidentified Israeli source told news site Ynet that the “direction (of the talks) is positive.”

According to the Israeli government, the conflict started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 200 more. The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that since then, around 30,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza.