NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday he wants a ceasefire between the two countries. Israel and Hamas The agreement suspending hostilities and allowing the remaining hostages to be released could take effect by early next week.
Asked when he thought a ceasefire would begin, Biden said: “Well, I hope it will happen by the beginning of the weekend. End of the weekend. My national security adviser says it's getting closer. It's almost there. It's not over yet. My hope is that there will be a ceasefire by next Monday.”
Biden made the comments in New York after appearing on NBC. “Late Night with Seth Meyers”
Negotiations are underway between Israel and Hamas for a week-long ceasefire that would allow Israel to release hostages held by the militant group in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. be. The proposed six-week cessation of fighting would also include allowing hundreds of trucks to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza each day.
Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of around March 10 for the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan; Tensions between Israel and Palestine often rise.
Meanwhile, Israel has failed to comply with orders from the United Nations Supreme Court to provide urgently needed aid to the desperate people of the Gaza Strip, after a landmark judgment in The Hague handed Israel a moderation order. One month later, on Monday, Human Rights Watch made the announcement. that war.
In a preliminary response to a South African petition accusing Israel of genocide, the United Nations Supreme Court commanded Israel To do everything possible to prevent death, destruction and all acts of genocide in the small Palestinian enclave. It stopped short of ordering a halt to the military offensive that had caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel denies the charges, saying it was fighting in self-defense.
Almost five months into the war, Israel is preparing to expand its ground operations. Rafah, the southernmost town in Gaza 1.4 million Palestinians seek safety along the border with Egypt.
Associated Press correspondent Karen Chamas reports on Human Rights Watch's claims that Israel is limiting aid to desperate Palestinians.
Early Monday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the military had submitted plans for the operation into Rafah and the evacuation of civilians from the combat zone to the army cabinet. No further details were provided.
of Rapha situation caused worldwide concern. Israel's allies have warned that civilians must be protected in the fight against the militant group Hamas.
Also on Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh submitted his resignation from his government, and President Mahmoud Abbas also submitted his resignation. expected to appoint a technocrat This is in line with US domestic reform demands. The United States has called for the activation of a post-war Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza ahead of eventual statehood, a scenario rejected by Israel.
In a January 26 ruling, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to comply. Six interim measuresThis includes taking “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” to Gaza.
Israel must also submit a report within a month on what it is doing to comply with the measures. Israel's Foreign Ministry announced late Monday that it had submitted such a report. The company declined to share it or discuss its contents.
Israel announced on Sunday that 245 aid trucks had entered Gaza. This is less than half of the amount that was flowing in daily before the war.
Citing UN statistics, Human Rights Watch said the average daily number of aid trucks entering Gaza fell by 30% in the weeks following the court ruling. The report said that from January 27 to February 21, there were an average of 93 trucks per day, compared to 147 trucks per day in the three weeks before the ruling. The daily average from February 9 to 21 fell to 57 cases, the figures show.
Human rights groups accused Israel of not properly facilitating fuel shipments to hard-hit northern Gaza and of blocking aid from reaching the north, which the World Food Program announced last week. We were forced to suspend the delivery of aid supplies..
“The Israeli government is simply ignoring the court's ruling and, in some ways, even stepping up its crackdown,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch.
The Association of International Development Agencies, a coalition of more than 70 humanitarian organizations working in Gaza and the West Bank, said little aid had reached the Gaza Strip north of Rafah since the court ruling.
Israel denies it restrict entry of aid; Instead, it accused humanitarian organizations working in Gaza of leaving large aid shipments abandoned on the Palestinian side of a major crossing. The United Nations says it is not always possible to reach railroad crossings because they are sometimes too dangerous.
In some cases, crowds of desperate Palestinians surround delivery trucks and steal supplies. The United Nations has called on Israel to open more of its borders, including in the north, and to improve processes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his war cabinet had approved a plan to safely deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza in a way that “prevents incidents of looting.” No further details were provided.
The war started after Hamas-led militants Rampage spread throughout southern Israelkilled 1,200 people, mostly civilians, took about 250 hostages, and caused extensive destruction in Gaza.
Nearly 30,000 people were killed in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children. Gaza Ministry of Health There is no distinction between combatants and non-combatants. Israel claims, without providing evidence, that it has killed 10,000 militants.
The fighting has flattened large swaths of Gaza's urban landscape, forcing the evacuation of some 80% of the region's 2.3 million people, cramming them into increasingly smaller spaces in search of elusive safety.
A crisis has struck A quarter of the population is on the verge of starvation Concerns of impending starvation were raised, particularly in northern Gaza, the initial focus of Israel's ground invasion. Hungry residents are forced to eat animal feed or search for food in demolished buildings.
“I wish my children death because I cannot feed them bread. I cannot feed them. I cannot feed my own children!” Waiting for aid in Gaza City Naim Abseid shouted. “What did we do to deserve this?”
Bushra Khalidi of the British aid organization Oxfam told The Associated Press that she had confirmed reports that children had starved to death in the north in recent weeks and that aid had not been expanded despite the court ruling. He said it shows.
Aid groups say safety issues continue to hamper deliveries as well. French aid groups Médecin du Monde and Médecins Sans Frontières each said their facilities were attacked by Israeli forces in the weeks following the court order.
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Mr. Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, Mr. Chehaib from Beirut and Mr. Miller from New York. Associated Press writers Joseph Federman in Jerusalem and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
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