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President Joe Biden said that he hopes there’ll be a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict by “next Monday.”
“Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean, the end of the weekend,” Biden said after being asked when a ceasefire might start during an appearance on Monday at an ice cream shop in New York City with comedian Seth Meyers. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close, it’s not done yet. And my hope is that by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire,” Biden added.
Earlier on Monday, CNN reported Hamas has backed off some key demands in the negotiations for a hostage deal and pause in the fighting in Gaza following Israeli accusations that its position was “delusional,” bringing the negotiating parties closer to an initial agreement that could halt the fighting and see a group of Israeli hostages released, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
“The major obstacles have been resolved in terms of Hamas insisting on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and end to the war,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN, following the Friday meeting in Paris between the US, Egyptian, Israeli intelligence chiefs and the Qatari prime minister.
“Hamas’ requirements for the numbers of Palestinians [prisoners that] would have to be freed has declined,” the official added.
A diplomatic source familiar with the discussions confirmed that Hamas softened its position ahead of an agreement on the first phase of a deal. Though it is expected that more challenging hurdles will emerge later when complex issues like Hamas releasing male IDF hostages and an end to the war will be discussed.
I hope it actually happens. I'm none too pleased with Biden and his handling of our end of this war. I'm none too please with a lot of what he's done and/or not done. But he needs to get hisshit together on this.
I don't think most Dems like how he's green-lighted Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. Oh we'll all still vote for him of course. It's not worth letting the country fall into Trump's tiny little career criminal hands.
It's a little difficult for me to tell whether I dislike voting for him more this time, or the first. I think it's about a wash.
But I certainly can't fault him for his dealings with the economy, as things worked out. He's surprised me in several ways.
