The Biden administration has insisted the cease-fire proposal is in line with the latest terms Israeli negotiators have offered Hamas.
The United Nations Security Council voted on Monday in favor of a U.S.-led resolution affirming a Gaza cease-fire proposal, President Joe Biden announced on May 31.
Thirteen members of the 15-member Security Council voted alongside the U.S. delegation in favor of the deal. Russia, which is one of four permanent members on the Security Council with veto power, abstained from the vote.
According to President Biden, phase one of the deal would last at least six weeks, and see “a full and complete cease-fire; a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza; a release of a number of hostages—including women, the elderly, the wounded—in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”
He said phase one of the deal also includes measures to ensure up to 600 truckloads of food reach the Gaza Strip daily.
President Biden said phase two of the plan would be contingent on continued negotiations, but that the peace established in phase one would hold beyond six weeks, so long as negotiations continue. If those negotiations succeed, he said phase two would entail the Hamas terrorist group releasing its remaining captives; a group that would consist of male Israeli military members. He said if this final hostage release succeeds, Israel will withdraw from the Gaza Strip altogether and the ceasefire will become permanent.
The president said the third and final phase of the cease-fire plan would involve the beginning of reconstruction in the embattled Gaza Strip and would include Hamas turning over the remains of any deceased hostages.
The Biden administration has insisted the cease-fire proposal he described on May 31 is in line with the latest terms Israeli negotiators have offered Hamas.
Despite some public grumblings among Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet members, the Biden administration has insisted the Israeli side is fully on board with the cease-fire proposal, and that it’s now on Hamas to accept the terms and enable a cessation of hostilities.
By Ryan Morgan
