U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed to suspend military operations in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Meanwhile, Hamas is looking into a proposed truce that calls for a cessation of hostilities and the exchange of war prisoners.
“Ramadan is coming up, and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan, as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out,” Biden stated during an appearance on NBC.
The month of Ramadan starts on March 10th evening and ends on April 9th evening.
Biden further cautioned that Israel’s high Palestinian casualties could result in a loss of international support, adding that Israel had pledged to facilitate Palestinian evacuation from Rafah in southern Gaza before intensifying its campaign to destroy Hamas in that region. He expected that the conflict would reach a ceasefire by Monday.
“There are too many innocent people that are being killed.” Biden further stated that a temporary ceasefire would expedite the process by which the Palestinians attain their own state, noting that Israel’s assaults in Rafah have slowed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a two-state solution.
The proposed initiative would require exchanging Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages in a ratio of ten to one. Hamas would release 40 Israeli hostages, including women, children under 19, the elderly over 50, and the sick, according to the draft.
Israeli authorities would release 400 Palestinian prisoners and not re-arrest them.