After securing ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, President Biden reportedly pushes Netanyahu to reach an agreement with Hamas for hostages’ release and Gaza truce.
By World Israel News Staff
President Joe Biden pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to compromise with the Hamas terror organization in order to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Axios reported Wednesday.
According to the report, Biden called Netanyahu on Tuesday, after American brokers managed to secure a truce between Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah that day, which went into effect Wednesday morning.
The report cited two American officials, who said the call came shortly after the Israeli security cabinet voted to approve the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
The two sources said the call was brief, lasting only a few minutes, and that the call focused on the Lebanon ceasefire, and Biden’s push to use the momentum from the deal to secure a similar agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“We have an opportunity now. Let’s get the hostages,” Biden was quoted as telling Netanyahu during the call.
The report claimed that Netanyahu responded “positively” and said he wanted to try to secure a deal.
One Biden aide said the president is intent on securing a hostage deal before he leaves office in January.
“Biden thinks that doing nothing and telling the hostage families to wait until Jan. 20 would be crazy,” the aide said.
Israeli and U.S. officials cited in the report said the Lebanon ceasefire makes a deal with Hamas more likely, even if only the first phase of a planned three-phase deal is actually implemented.
According to a senior Israeli minister, the Israeli premier is pushing for a scaled-down hostage deal, under which Israel would not commit to a permanent end to the war or a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
“There is an intention to make a renewed effort to get a deal in Gaza. It was clear that the war in Lebanon had to end first. Now Hamas is in a weaker position because Hezbollah is out of the war,” the minister told Axios.