Ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is Closer than Ever, White House
Thursday was fraught with the significant White House meeting between Biden and Netanyahu, and in their bargaining to achieve some progress in the cessation of the nine-month Gazan conflict, the ceasefire and hostage acts were found to be back on track.
Biden Administration was more optimistic in the matter of a closed deal in case of Israel and Palestine. Er, Bennett also talked to the Vice–President of America, Kamala Harris, who will succeed Biden as the democrats’ candidate in the next presidential elections. “Mr. Prime Minister, we have many things to talk about,’ Biden told Netanyahu when the latter came to the White House, Oval Office.
In return, Netanyahu said: “From the beginning of the Zionist dream, blessed by Theodore Herzl, through from a Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for the past 50 years of public service and support for the state of Israel.” Biden recalled that his first official meeting with an Israeli prime minister was with Golda Meir when he was elected to the Senate in 1973.
Biden is believed to have pressured Netanyahu to accept the first of the three-part deal where hostages are to be relinquished for a pseudo-cease-fire. A senior administration official said that while the structure of a deal is still in place, “significant finding-implementation issues” are still outstanding. ‘I do not assume everyone will go when the meeting is over, Yes, Mr – or, No, Mr –,’ the official continued. “It is the final bits that need to be closed.”
In a briefing to the media, the White House national security Jared K.
Kirby also said he expected solutions to be found for the remaining contentious issues soon. ‘Better go there soon,’ he remarked. Both camps admitted that concessions are always given and taken. Indeed, the urgent need to seal the deal can be heard in the words of State Department spokesperson Matt Miller.
More than 39,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the conflict; thus, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu for the war crime and crime against humanity charges. The last point that may be highlighted is that the US does not acknowledge the court’s jurisdiction.
Before the election for the post of President, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now actively preparing for the fight against Donald Trump, met with Netanyahu. She focused on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, primarily on the fact that Israel has a right to protect itself and how it does it; Harris stated that she would not stay passive.
Harris, as I mentioned before, called for a ceasefire and spoke in defense of the oppressed Palestinian civilians; she hopes to try and win back the Democratic voters who now feel that the Biden administration has not done enough to put an end to the conflict or limit the exportation of weapons to Israel. Although she did not turn up for Netanyahu’s address to Congress, she said it was not a boycott.
A senior administration official said both president and vice president are ‘dialed in’ on the issue of Israel, and there is no space between them.
Further, Harris also criticized some recent protests in Washington in support of Palestinians, calling them. Now, he has called the samples of rhetoric used in such actions dangerous and anti-patriotic. She categorically rejected any connection with Hamas and disrespect for the American flag but supported people’s right to protest.
Netanyahu thus planned to meet Trump in Mar-a-Lago today, Friday. However, the two leaders had a rather cold embrace after Netanyahu extended his acknowledgment of Biden’s win in the 2020 US elections. While in Congress, Netanyahu vowed ‘total victory’ in Gaza and called for speedy US ammunition replenishment to ‘help us achieve the victory quicker’ without stating his stand on ceasefire.
