New Delhi: US President Joe Biden had proposed a three-phase ceasefire proposal from Israel to Palestinian Islamist political and militant group Hamas to end the war in Gaza that has already led to thousands of deaths and resulted in a grave humanitarian crisis.
The good news is that Israel has accepted Biden’s framework deal, Reuters reported on Sunday based on comments made by an aide to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, Netanyahu described the deal as “flawed” with much more work needed.
Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, said in an interview with The Sunday Times that Biden’s proposal was “a deal we agreed to — it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them.”
However, “there are a lot of details to be worked out, including the release of hostages and destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organisation”, which have not changed, Falk stated.
Biden said on May 31 that Israel would propose to Hamas a deal which involved an initial six-week “full and complete ceasefire”, partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely-populated areas of Gaza, release of some hostages — including women, the elderly and wounded — and a “permanent end to hostilities.”
According to the second phase of Biden’s formula, the remaining living hostages will be released, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza.
The third phase proposes a major reconstruction of Gaza, which has been devastated by the war which has been on for almost 8 months.
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