President Biden on Friday announced what he said was a new Israeli proposal that, if agreed to by Hamas, will lead to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the enclave.
The White House cautioned that final agreement on the deal would still require some negotiation and an immediate cease-fire is not likely. But administration officials said after months of fitful talks, it was effectively the best offer either side could hope to have.
Both Israel and the United States, as Israel’s primary military and diplomatic backer, have been under growing international pressure to end the Israeli attacks that have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and to bring home more than 100 remaining Hamas hostages, both living and dead. That pressure, including domestic criticism of Biden’s support for Israel, has intensified as Israel continues the military offensive it launched in densely-populated Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city, more than three weeks ago.
As outlined by the president in White House remarks, the three-phase plan echoes previous proposals that died on the negotiating table. It begins with a six-week cease-fire and the return of women, children and other vulnerable hostages; the release of “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners in Israel; withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza; and the surging of “600 trucks [of humanitarian aid] carried into Gaza every single day.”
The clearest new element would come with negotiations about the second phase — to begin as soon as the initial cease-fire starts — over a permanent end to the fighting and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, along with the release of all remaining hostages. Those elements are more directly addressed than in the last proposal, which fell apart several weeks ago with Hamas insisting that specific commitments be spelled out and Israel calling that unacceptable.
“This deal to stop the war is nearly identical to Hamas, its own proposals, of only a few weeks ago,” said a senior Biden administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Under the newly announced plan, the temporary cease-fire would continue beyond an initial six weeks until a permanent plan is put in place, provided good-faith negotiations are ongoing and neither side violates its terms.
The third phase of the new proposal outlines a 3-to-5 year period of internationally funded reconstruction of Gaza and the establishment of a non-Hamas Palestinian government.
Both Israel and Hamas, which received the four-and-a-half page plan Thursday evening, issued positive initial responses following Biden’s statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed he had “authorized” the text, but emphasized the importance of “the conditional transition between stages.” If all goes according to plan, it indicated, Israel would achieve its goals of returning all hostages and eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
Hamas, in a statement posted on its Telegram site, said it viewed Biden’s remarks “positively … in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, and an exchange of prisoners … if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that.”
The senior administration official said Biden had decided to make public the details of an “endgame” proposal “because often these deals get characterized by those who might not want to see the deal.”
Biden acknowledged that not all the details were in place. “I’ll be straight with you,” he said. “There are a number of details in negotiations to move from phase one to phase two.”
“I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely … some even in the government coalition. And they’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years.” But, he said, “I’ve urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes.”
While agreement would require Israeli troops to withdraw from Rafah, the likely delay in reaching a final sign-off and implementation would not end the military operation immediately. “Israel always retains the right, as does any sovereign country, to act against threats against its security … and bring the Oct. 7 perpetrators to justice,” even assuming an eventual cease-fire and withdrawal, the senior official said. “And obviously, that would continue.”
Any additional U.S. guarantees, beyond the current supply of weaponry and intelligence cooperation, have not been publicly spelled out. The senior official said the United States would serve as guarantor that Israel would live up to the terms of the deal, while Egypt and Qatar, its co-mediators in the negotiations, would serve the same role with Hamas.
Hamas has been both a militant army and the governing body in Gaza since 2007. The deal presumes that it has now been so degraded by Israel’s military that it can no longer effectively undertake either function. It also outlines rapid steps to replace it, first by flooding Gaza with the humanitarian aid that has been effectively blocked by Israel and the fighting, then by rebuilding Gaza and installing a new government under the Palestinian Authority that now governs the West Bank.
Israel has said in the past that it rejects any Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza. How this would be accomplished is one of the many parts of the agreement still to be negotiated beyond the first phase.
But the U.S. goal, for months, has been to get an initial cease-fire and hostage release in place in the belief that prevailing calm will provide the basis for rebuilding and future political settlements, both between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and surrounding Arab states.
“A comprehensive approach starts with this deal,” that will bring a cease-fire, the release of hostages, security for Israel and “the possibility of a great deal more progress,” Biden said.
