Biden urges Netanyahu to provide further aid for Gaza – Hamas comments on hostage deal
Hostage agreement – “All parties to the conflict are under high pressure”
Before a military operation in Rafah, Israel is making a final attempt to reach an agreement with Hamas on the release of more hostages. A Hamas delegation is scheduled to travel to Cairo on Monday to discuss details. Middle East expert Dr. Asiem El Difraoui classifies the current situation on WELT TV.
Before negotiations on a possible ceasefire in Gaza that began on Monday in Riyadh, US President Joe Biden telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for more aid for the Gaza Strip. Hamas also commented in advance on a possible hostage deal.
UPresident Joe Biden has called for the expansion of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip ahead of renewed crisis talks. In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden emphasized that the recent progress in aid deliveries must be continued and increased in full coordination with humanitarian organizations, the White House said on Sunday. Biden referred, among other things, to the preparations for the opening of new border crossings in northern Israel starting this week.
Political observers rated the US President’s choice of words in the conversation as less sharp than in a previous telephone conversation. At that time, Biden made future US support for Israel in the Gaza war dependent on measurable and rapid steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
Israel is under massive international pressure to allow more aid deliveries into the sealed-off area on the Mediterranean, where the Israeli military has been fighting against the Islamist Hamas since October. The country recently opened border crossings for aid deliveries. The United Nations has recently confirmed an increase in arriving trucks, but is calling on Israel to take further steps to enable more aid deliveries.
At a meeting of several Western and Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh this Monday, there are new efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Among those expected are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. In Cairo, a Hamas delegation also wants to hand over its response to a proposal for a ceasefire on Monday.
Already on Sunday, a senior Hamas representative expressed a generally positive response to the latest Israeli proposal for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages in the Gaza Strip. “The atmosphere is positive unless there are new Israeli obstacles,” he told AFP on Sunday. Hamas had identified “no major problems” with the text submitted by Israel and Egypt.
Biden and Netanyahu also discussed the issue of Rafah in the conversation, it said. Biden reiterated his clear position. The United States, Israel’s most important ally, has repeatedly warned Netanyahu’s government against a large-scale offensive in the city of Rafah. The city on the border with Egypt is currently overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of refugees, but is also the last major stronghold of Hamas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to postpone military operations in Rafah if a hostage deal was reached. However, hopes of an agreement in the indirect negotiations have so far been repeatedly dashed. In the conversation with Netanyahu, Biden referred to a statement in which he and 17 other heads of state and government called on Hamas to immediately release the hostages in order to achieve a ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza.