Struggle for ceasefire

Biden asked Gaza mediators to put pressure on Hamas

US President Joe Biden wants to persuade the parties to the conflict to agree to a ceasefire.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Jim WATSON)

According to media reports, US President Joe Biden has personally asked the mediators Qatar and Egypt to put pressure on the militant Palestinian organization Hamas. The latter should agree to an agreement on the release of Israeli hostages.

A proposal is on the table that envisages a six-week ceasefire and the release of 40 hostages, the news portal "Axios" reported on Saturday night, citing a senior US official.

Letters to Doha and Cairo
According to the "Times of Israel" newspaper, Biden sent letters to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Mosa Nasser Al Missned, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urging Hamas to agree to such an agreement. According to "Axios", the USA wants to help the indirect negotiations achieve a breakthrough this weekend in Cairo. To this end, CIA Director William Burns is to meet with the head of Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, as well as Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel in the Egyptian capital.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the Emir of Qatar last October.

(Bild: AP)

For weeks, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and Hamas to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023 for Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli estimates, almost 100 abductees held by Hamas are still alive.

Murderers to be released
The hostages to be released under the agreement include Israeli female soldiers and other women, men over the age of 50 and men in critical health, wrote the usually well-informed Israeli journalist Barak Ravid in his "Axios" report. In return, Israel would release around 700 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, including around 100 serving life sentences for the murder of Israelis, the report continued. US President Biden had called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone call on Thursday to "immediately" conclude an agreement to retrieve the hostages.

In view of the upcoming round of talks in Cairo at the weekend, Biden asked Netanyahu to send his negotiators with a broader mandate than before in order to reach an agreement, "Axios" quoted the senior US official as saying. Biden made it clear to Netanyahu that everything must be done to secure the release of the hostages who have been held in Gaza for six months.