Ceasefire agreement for Gaza: Joe Biden’s proposal is “incomplete”, says Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu asks Joe Biden to review his copy. An Israeli government spokesperson said Monday that the prime minister considered “incomplete“the American president’s proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages.

“The proposal presented by President Biden is incomplete”, said the spokesperson, David Mencer, quoting comments from the Israeli Prime Minister. The latter also considered that “the war would end in order to recover the hostages” before further discussions are held on how to achieve the war objective of eliminating Hamas, he added. “Allegations that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect”declared Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted in a separate press release sent by his office.

Conflicting requirements

Will the peace plan supervised by the White House see the light of day? Presented on Friday, it already seems to be in trouble, the contradictory demands reiterated by the two camps casting doubt on its viability. Before this Monday’s statements, the Israeli Prime Minister had already repeated this weekend his determination to continue the war until “destruction“of Hamas and liberation”of all the hostages“abducted on October 7.

For its part, Hamas – which has not yet given its definitive response – said it was considering “positively” the road map, but also reiterated its demands for a permanent ceasefire and a total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Proof of the uncertainty that reigns over the current negotiations: the Israeli media wondered this Monday to what extent Joe Biden’s speech and certain important points of the plan had been coordinated with Benjamin Netanyahu’s team. In particular the duration of a possible truce as well as the number of future releases.