Biden Says Israel & Hamas Have Agreed to Ceasefire
President Biden announced a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, though Israel has not yet publicly agreed. Prime Minister Netanyahu said "unresolved points" will be "finalized tonight."
While many hope this could bring some relief to Palestinians in Gaza, there's concern. During the last ceasefire in November 2023, Israel increased its bombing of Gaza in the days before it took effect. A similar pattern may be emerging now - even after today's ceasefire announcement, Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians. With several days until this ceasefire is meant to start, there are concerns that the violence could intensify.
According to the Biden Administration, the proposed three-phase agreement includes – which goes into effect Sunday – is:
Phase 1 (Initial 6 Weeks):
- Implementation of a six-week ceasefire while both sides negotiate further to end the current war
- Significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza
- Release of 33 Hamas-held hostages out of the 100 still missing (about one-third are believed to be dead)
- Release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners (list being finalized) from Israeli detention facilities – most of whom are held without formal charges– including children
Phase 2 (Beginning Day 16):
- Next-stage negotiations begin
- Release of remaining hostages, most likely soldiers
- Partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza
- Note: Hamas wants a complete Israeli withdrawal before releasing remaining hostages, which Israel has not agreed to. (Not sure how they claim to have an agreement when one of the biggest sticking points is... well, still stuck.)
Phase 3:
- Beginning of Gaza reconstruction efforts
This is the same deal the Biden Administration proposed in May 2024. Why is the deal finally happening – seven months after it was proposed?
The Times of Israel reports that President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, went to Israel last week and “did more to sway [Netanyahu] in a single sit-down than” Biden, according to two Arab officials.
If true, this raises the question: was the Biden team inept or maliciously prolonging the war?
There is a damning investigation from Pro Publica that it is likely the latter:
“Throughout the contentious year inside the State Department, senior leaders repeatedly disregarded their own experts. They cracked down on leaks by threatening criminal investigations and classifying material that was critical of Israel. Some of the agency’s top Middle East diplomats complained in private that they were sidelined by Biden’s National Security Council. The council also distributed a list of banned phrases, including any version of “State of Palestine” that didn’t have the word “future” first. Two human rights officials said they were prevented from pursuing evidence of abuses in Gaza and the West Bank.” - ProPublica, January 15
Israel's Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir admitted this week to sabotaging previous ceasefire deals. In a tweet on X this week, he said:
And then, there's this:
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