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Biden Outlines New Gaza ‘Ceasefire’ Plan That Would Seemingly Leave Hamas Intact
US President Joe Biden at the White House, Washington, DC, May 31, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President Joe Biden on Friday outlined the details of a new plan to conclude the Israel-Hamas war that would seemingly leave the Palestinian terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip.
Delivering a speech from the White House, Biden gave updates on his administration’s efforts to end the war in Gaza, laying out a proposed multi-phase plan that, in his words, would result in a “permanent cessation of hostilities” between the Jewish state and Hamas, which launched the war by invading southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people, and abducting over 250 hostages on Oct. 7.
Biden explained that his administration has engaged in “intensive diplomacy” with the governments of Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and other unspecified Middle Eastern countries to hammer out the details of a potential ceasefire plan.
“Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages. This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas,” Biden said.
Israel’s proposal consists of three phases, Biden said. The first phase would last six weeks and include a “full and complete ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas and the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza.” The first phase would also include the “release of a number of hostages” in exchange for “the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”
The remains of killed hostages would also be returned to Israeli families, and Palestinian civilians would “return to their homes” within all areas of Gaza. Biden added that humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip “would surge, with 600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day.” In addition, the president promised that “hundreds of thousands of temporary shelters” would be erected for Gazan refugees.
During this six-week period, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the “necessary arrangements” in order to transition to the second phase and a “permanent end” to the war, Biden explained. The negotiations during this transitional period would include measures to ensure Israel’s security. As long as negotiations continue, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would remain, Biden said.
The second phase of the proposal would guarantee the release of all “remaining living hostages” and the removal of all Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel would promise the “permanent cessation of hostilities” if Hamas abides by the proposal, Biden claimed.
The third phase consists of a “major reconstruction” of the war-torn enclave and the delivery of the final batches of dead hostages’ remains back to Israeli families.
Biden assured that Israel can make this offer to Hamas without an unnecessary risk to their security “because they’ve devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months.” He asserted that Israel’s military operations have rendered Hamas “no longer capable of carrying out another Oct. 7.” Israel would be allowed to continue with its war effort if Hamas breaks the terms of the agreement, Biden stipulated.
Biden added that a coalition consisting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Middle Eastern countries, and the international community would work together to rebuild Gaza “in a manner that does not allow Hamas to rearm.”
“I know that there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely,” he continued. “Some are even in the government coalition, and they’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years, and hostages are not a priority for them.”
Israeli officials across the political aisle have consistently said that freeing the hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 is a top priority of their military campaign in Gaza, along with incapacitating Hamas to the point that it can no longer pose a threat to the Israeli people.
Notably, toward the beginning of his remarks, Biden said the plan his foreign policy team negotiated would ensure a Gaza “without Hamas in power.” It’s unclear how that would work if a disarmed version of the terrorist group is allowed to remain the governing body of Gaza. Israel has also repeatedly asserted that Hamas will not be allowed to retain power within Gaza following its Oct. 7 slaughter, which Hamas leaders have promised to carry out “again and again.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement following Biden’s speech, vowing not to end the war until Israel has achieved the “elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities” — seemingly opposing the idea of allowing Hamas to remain in power.
“The government of Israel is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal,” the statement said. “The prime minister authorized the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities. The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.”
During his address, Biden claimed that if Israel did not accept the deal and continued the war effort, the Jewish state could find itself “bogged down in Gaza” for the long-term. The president warned that this could potentially drain the economic, military, and human resources” of Israel along with solidifying the Jewish state’s “isolation” in the broader international community.
Biden also stated that the end of the Israel-Hamas war could pave the way for a “normalization agreement” between the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia, adding that such an arrangement would allow Israel and the broader region to effectively combat any threats from Iran.
“It’s time for this war to end, and the day after to begin,” Biden said.
Biden’s press conference came one day after Hamas outlined a ceasefire proposal with terms Israel found unacceptable. Hamas said Thursday that it would refuse to negotiate a release of hostages until Israel unilaterally withdrew its forces. Israeli officials have said any deal must include the release of hostages before they halt their military campaign.
On Friday, Hamas released a statement following Biden’s remarks, praising the plan outlined in his speech and claiming the terror group is willing to work with Israel “constructively” to work toward a ceasefire.
“The movement affirms its position of readiness to deal positively and constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that,” Hamas said.
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Iran’s Top Diplomat Meets With Russian Officials, Supreme Leader Sends Letter to Putin Ahead of Talks With US
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, March 21, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, briefing Moscow on the ongoing nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the United States.
Khamenei also sent his top diplomat, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, to Moscow, where on Thursday he met with Putin and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to deliver Khamenei’s letter. During their meetings, they discussed Iran’s nuclear program, last week’s US-Iran negotiations in Oman, and efforts to expand bilateral cooperation and address regional developments.
Thursday’s high-level meeting came just days before a second round of talks between Tehran and Washington, scheduled to take place in Rome this weekend.
Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran aimed at cutting the country’s crude exports to zero and preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
However, Tehran has refused to halt its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable.
Last month, Trump threatened to bomb Iran and impose secondary tariffs if the country does not reach an agreement with Washington to curb its nuclear program.
Russia has said that any military strike against Iran would be “illegal and unacceptable.” As an increasingly close ally of Tehran, Moscow plays a crucial role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West, leveraging its position as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a signatory to a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that imposed limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia will continue to assist in resolving the conflict between the two adversaries.
“The Russian Federation remains ready to do everything within our capabilities to contribute to the settlement of the situation by political and diplomatic means,” Peskov said in a statement.
During his first term, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — between Iran and several world powers, which had imposed temporary limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting harsh, long-standing economic penalties on the Islamist regime in Tehran.
“Regarding the nuclear issue, we always had close consultations with our friends China and Russia. Now it is a good opportunity to do so with Russian officials,” Araghchi told Iranian state media before his meeting in Moscow.
On Tuesday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program — reversing his earlier comments, in which he indicated that the White House would allow Iran to enrich uranium to a 3.67 percent threshold for a “civil nuclear program.”
Although Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has raised concerns over Tehran’s rapid acceleration of uranium enrichment.
The IAEA warned that Iran is enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level and enough to build six nuclear bombs.
Despite Tehran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
Russia’s diplomatic role in the US-Iran nuclear talks could be crucial, as Moscow has recently solidified its growing partnership with the Iranian regime.
On Wednesday, Russia’s upper house of parliament ratified a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Iran, strengthening military ties between the two countries.
Signed by Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in January, the Strategic Cooperation Treaty will boost collaboration between the two countries in areas such as security services, military drills, warship port visits, and joint officer training.
Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said this agreement “stands as one of the most significant achievements in Tehran-Moscow relations.”
“One of the most important commonalities between the two countries is the deep wounds inflicted by the West’s unrestrained unilateralism, which underscores the necessity for broader cooperation in the future,” Jalali told Iranian state media this week.
Under the agreement, neither country will permit its territory to be used for actions that pose a threat to the other, nor will they provide assistance to any aggressor targeting either nation. However, this pact does not include a mutual defense clause of the kind included in a treaty between Russia and North Korea.
The agreement also includes cooperation in arms control, counterterrorism, peaceful nuclear energy, and security coordination at both regional and global levels.
Iran’s growing ties with Moscow come at a time when Tehran is facing increasing sanctions by the US, particularly on its oil industry.
Last year, Iran obtained observer membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. The free trade agreement between Tehran and the union’s member states, set to take effect next month, will eliminate customs tariffs on over 80 percent of traded goods between Iran and Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The post Iran’s Top Diplomat Meets With Russian Officials, Supreme Leader Sends Letter to Putin Ahead of Talks With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Rejects Israeli Interim Truce Offer, Says Will Only Release Remaining Hostages for End to Gaza War
Protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, stand near a screen displaying senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya during a rally to show support to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Hamas wants a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel, a senior official from the Palestinian terrorist group said, rejecting Israel‘s offer of an interim truce.
In a televised speech, Khalil Al-Hayya, the group’s Gaza chief who leads its negotiating team, said the Iran-backed Islamist group would no longer agree to interim deals, adopting a position that Israel is unlikely to accept and potentially further delaying an end to the conflict.
Instead, Hayya said Hamas was ready to immediately engage in “comprehensive package negotiations” to release all remaining hostages in its custody in return for an end to the Gaza war, the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
“Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners [hostages],” said Hayya, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We will not be part of passing this policy.”
Egyptian mediators have been working to revive the January ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza before it broke down last month, but there has been little sign of progress with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other.
“Hamas’s comments demonstrate they are not interested in peace but perpetual violence. The terms made by the Trump administration have not changed: release the hostages or face hell,” said US National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt.
The latest round of talks on Monday in Cairo to restore the ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said.
Israel had proposed a 45-day truce in Gaza to allow hostage releases and potentially begin indirect talks to end the war. Hamas has already rejected one of its conditions – that it lay down its arms. In his speech, Hayya accused Israel of offering a counterproposal with “impossible conditions.”
Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that began on Jan. 19. In March, Israel‘s military resumed its ground and aerial offensive in Gaza, after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.
Israeli officials say that the offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.
The war was triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.
The post Hamas Rejects Israeli Interim Truce Offer, Says Will Only Release Remaining Hostages for End to Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Says Chinese Satellite Firm Supporting Houthi Attacks on American Interests
A Houthi fighter mans a machine gun mounted on a truck during a parade for people who attended Houthi military training as part of a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The US State Department on Thursday accused a Chinese firm, Chang Guang Satellite Technology, of directly supporting attacks on US interests by Iran-backed Houthi fighters and called this “unacceptable.”
Earlier, the Financial Times cited US officials as saying that the satellite company, linked to China’s military, was supplying Houthi rebels with imagery to target US warships and international vessels in the Red Sea.
“We can confirm the reporting that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on US interests,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a regular news briefing.
“China consistently attempts … to frame itself as a global peacemaker … however, it is clear that Beijing and China-based companies provide key economic and technical support to regimes like Russia, North Korea and Iran and its proxies,” she said.
Bruce said the assistance by the firm to the Houthis, a US-designated terrorist group, had continued even though the United States had engaged with Beijing on the issue.
“The fact that they continue to do this is unacceptable,” she said.
The spokesperson for China’s Washington embassy, Liu Pengyu, said he was not familiar with the situation, so had no comment. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China is Washington’s main strategic rival, and the latest charge comes as the two economic and military superpowers are in a major standoff over trade in which US President Donald Trump has dramatically ramped up tariffs on Chinese goods.
The post US Says Chinese Satellite Firm Supporting Houthi Attacks on American Interests first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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