Biden takes a major turn in the hostages-for-truce agreement and requires Israeli and Hamas officials to intensify their efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden looks past resistance from top Israeli officials as he pressures Israel and Hamas to accept deal three-phase agreement it could immediately bring home dozens of Israeli hostages, free Palestinian prisoners and perhaps even lead to an endgame in the nearly eight-month-old conflict. War in Gaza.

Biden’s big swing – in difficult times re-election battle – could also demonstrate to a significant portion of his political base demoralized by his handling of the conflict that he is doing his part to end the war that has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians and left hundreds of thousands struggling to eke out a living. their basic needs.

White House officials said Monday that Biden’s decision to go public with what she describes as an Israeli proposal – just a day after its delivery to Hamas – was motivated by a desire to embarrass Hamas. The move was a departure from the U.S. administration’s position throughout the conflict, which was to allow the Israelis to speak for themselves regarding hostage negotiations.

“The president felt that where we are in this war, where we are in the negotiations to get the hostages out, that it was time to take a different approach and make the proposal public, to try to energize the process here and catalyze a different outcome,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

Almost immediately after Biden detailed the proposal – which includes a ceasefire and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza if Hamas releases all the hostages – the prime minister That of Benjamin Netanyahu The office said it would continue its war until Hamas was destroyed.

NETANYAHU FACED PRESSURE FROM THE EXTREME RIGHT

Netanyahu’s political survival depends on a far-right coalition single-mindedly committed to eradicating Hamas. He sowed more doubts about the viability of the proposal on Monday when he told an Israeli parliamentary committee that there were some “deficiencies” in the way Biden presented the proposal. The prime minister said Israelis “reserve the right to return to war.”

Kirby downplayed differences between Biden and Netanyahu and stressed that the proposal was Israeli. He added that Biden agrees with the Israelis that Hamas should not rule Gaza after the war and that he also “does not expect Israel to have to live alongside this kind of terrorist threat.”

“It wasn’t about blocking the prime minister or the war cabinet,” Kirby said. “It was about showing the public how well, how faithfully and with what confidence the Israelis presented a new proposal. This shows how much they really want to achieve this.

But even if Hamas agreed to the terms, it would force Netanyahu to make difficult political calculations. Two leaders of his far-right coalition – National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – have threatened to leave Netanyahu’s government if it approves the proposal. This would lead to the collapse of the coalition.

Smotrich said Monday that agreeing to a ceasefire would amount to humiliation of Israel and capitulation. Increased military pressure, he said, is “the only language understood in the Middle East.”

Last week, Biden expressed concern that members of the Israeli government “want to continue fighting for years” and do not consider the release of hostages a “priority.” Administration officials warned Israeli officials Monday that getting bogged down in Gaza could be detrimental to Israel’s national security.

“Endless conflict in Gaza in pursuit of an idea of ​​total victory will not make Israel more secure,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Netanyahu also faced pressure from hostage families – officials say around 80 people captured by militants i As of the October 7 attack, they are still alive and Hamas is holding the bodies of 43 others – only to reach a deal to release their loved ones. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, however, pledged over the weekend to provide a political safety net for Netanyahu, ensuring his government would not fall over the deal.

OPTIMISM DESPITE AGAINST WINDS

Although the proposal faces significant challenges, the Biden administration has said it is cautiously optimistic that a deal can be reached.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan urged world leaders to get behind the proposal.

“They need to pay attention to Hamas this week and say it’s time to come to the table to make this deal,” Sullivan said during an appearance at the US Global Leadership Coalition conference in Washington.

To that end, Biden spoke Monday with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, a key Hamas interlocutor, and said it was “the best possible opportunity for a deal,” the White House said.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, said the U.S. distributed a draft resolution seeking support for the proposal from the other 14 members of the UN Security Council.

Sullivan, meanwhile, spoke to his Turkish counterpart, Akif Cagatay Kilic, about Turkey’s use of its influence with Hamas to get it to accept the proposal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended Hamas and hosted the group’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, for talks in April.

On Monday, Group of Seven leaders also approved the deal.

“We call on Hamas to accept this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward, and we urge countries with influence over Hamas to help ensure that it does so,” the G7 leaders said in a press release.

EVEN GETTING TO PHASE ONE IS A CHALLENGE

Biden acknowledged last week that it would be difficult to move past the first phase of the proposal.

The first phase would last six weeks and include a ceasefire, the 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.

The Israelis, under the proposal, would also allow 600 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza each day during the first phase. The second phase would include the release of all remaining hostages, including male soldiers, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Hamas is likely to make huge demands on which Palestinian prisoners will be released and call on Israel to guarantee that it will not continue targeting Hamas’ top leaders.

Aaron David Miller, a former US Middle East peace negotiator, said that even moving to the first phase – and the six-week pause in fighting – would result in “a slowdown in the escalation of the military campaign, and fewer deaths.

“I’m not sure they can expect much more,” said Miller, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Ultimately, negotiations only work if the parties feel enough pain accompanied by the prospect of gain, which generates urgency. The only party in a hurry here is the Biden administration.”

Indeed, Israeli officials are considering the conflict over a much longer period.

Just last week, Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said he expected the war to continue for another seven months, in order to destroy the military and government capabilities of Hamas and the smaller militant group Islamic Jihad.

But with U.S. Election Day just over five months away, Biden faces growing pressure to more quickly resolve the Middle East conflict that is causing him to lose support.

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AP writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Matthew Lee contributed reporting.