Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there are “gaps” between the cease-fire deal Israel proposed and the version of it that President Biden described on Friday.
Netanyahu stated Monday that Biden’s description of the deal was “incomplete,” indicating it was less expansive than Biden had suggested.
“The proposal that Biden presented is incomplete,” Netanyahu said. “The war will stop in order to bring hostages back, and afterward we will hold discussions. There are other details that the U.S. president did not present to the public.”
Netanyahu went on to say that Israel can stop the war for as long as six weeks, but no longer, according to Israeli media.
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“Iran and all of our enemies are watching to see if we capitulate,” he said.
Israel has pushed back on Biden’s cease-fire proposal since he announced it on Friday. A top adviser to Netanyahu stated on Sunday that it was “not a good plan.”
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Two Israeli ministers have threatened to resign from Netanyahu’s coalition if he accepts Biden’s deal. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing member of Netanyahu’s government, issued the threat on Monday morning.
In a speech from the White House on Friday, Biden described his “roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” which he said came after intensive diplomacy carried out by a U.S. team with the leaders of Israel, Qatar, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries.
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In a statement also on Saturday, Hamas said it viewed the president’s plan positively, particularly “his call for a permanent cease-fire, the withdrawal of [Israeli] forces from Gaza Strip, reconstruction and an exchange of prisoners.”
In his speech, Biden said the plan consisted of three phases: the first, which would take six weeks, would see a full and complete cease-fire, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and a release of a number of hostages. In exchange, Biden said, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow Gaza’s civilians to return to their homes and neighborhoods in all of the Gaza Strip.
