Liz Wolfe at Reason: President Joe Biden has proposed a ceasefire plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not yet on board. The key plank in dispute: how much of Hamas is intact, and thus able to carry out another attack.
The White House says Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has crippled the terrorist group to such a degree that Hamas no longer poses a threat. The Israeli government says that it doesn’t feel confident that this is true, and that it wants to see all of Hamas wiped out.
“Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it,” said Biden in a speech on Friday, announcing his plan. “Hamas needs to take the deal…[and end] this war that they began.”
Biden’s plan has three phases. The first, which would last for six weeks, would include a “full and complete ceasefire” as well as total withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza and the release of many hostages taken by Hamas—women, the elderly—in exchange for “hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”
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