Nearly eight months after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the US President announced that Israel had proposed a new ‘comprehensive’ ceasefire agreement. On Friday 31 May, Joe Biden declared that Israel had proposed a new ‘comprehensive’ ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the withdrawal of all its forces from Gaza for six weeks, saying that this opportunity should not be ‘missed’.

‘It’s time for this war to end’, added Joe Biden. Speaking from the White House, the US President said that Israel’s proposal included the withdrawal of all its forces from Palestinian territory for six weeks, a complete ceasefire, and the release of all hostages. Joe Biden also urged Hamas to ‘accept the agreement’.

A ‘decisive moment
Joe Biden called on the Israeli government to resist ‘pressure’ from supporters of an ‘endless’ conflict.

In the longer term, the US President spoke of a normalisation of Israel’s relations with Saudi Arabia and its inclusion in a ‘regional security network’. He also spoke of a major reconstruction programme in Gaza, where civilians are currently living in ‘hell’, and of the Palestinians’ right to “self-determination”.

Joe Biden, who had never before sketched out such a comprehensive roadmap, spoke of a ‘decisive moment’, but acknowledged that ‘nothing was simple’

Hamas had declared on Thursday that it was prepared to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip, including a ‘global agreement on an exchange’ of prisoners, but only if Israel stopped its bombardments.