The first phase of the ceasefire would require the release of the women, elderly, wounded, and ill hostages, as well as the bodies of deceased hostages.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
On Friday, US President Joe Biden urged Israel to accept a 3-part ceasefire and hostage deal and declared, “It’s time for this war to end.”
Although the plan is similar to an earlier framework plan approved by Israel, Biden seemed to recognize that Jerusalem had not officially endorsed the final version of this agreement.
The deal was presented by Israel to Hamas with Qatar as a mediator, Biden said and added that the proposal would “bring all the hostages home, ensure Israel’s security, create a better day after in Gaza without Hamas in power, and set the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
The first phase of the ceasefire would require the release of the women, elderly, wounded, and ill hostages, as well as the bodies of deceased hostages.
This is a departure from an earlier agreement that emphasized the release of living hostages in the first phase and of bodies in later stages.
In an earlier agreement, Israel demanded that 33 female, elderly, and wounded be released in the first phase, and Hamas responded by saying they didn’t have 33 surviving hostages that fit that category and offered to release the bodies of captives along with living hostages.
The first phase would allow the return to Palestinians in the north, a condition Israel had earlier balked at for fear that it would allow Hamas to regroup.
The second phase of the deal would see the release of the remaining hostages, including male soldiers, and a withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza.
Biden said of the second phase, “As long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, a cessation of hostilities permanently.”
The third phase would usher in “a major reconstruction plan for Gaza” and the release of the remainder of the bodies of Israeli hostages.
Biden insisted that it was time for the war to end and that Israel has “devastated Hamas’s [forces] over the past eight months. At this point, Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7.”
He added, “This was one of Israel’s main objectives in this war — and quite frankly, a righteous one.”