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Israel Says Biden Omitted Key Detail From Gaza Ceasefire Plan, No Long-Term Truce With Hamas in Power
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks, at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery, May 13, 2024. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that US President Joe Biden had disclosed only part of the proposal aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of Israeli hostages, and added that he had not agreed to end Israel’s military operations against Hamas.
“The proposal contains more details that Biden did not mention,” Netanyahu was cited in Israeli media reports as saying at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.
“Biden omitted one crucial detail regarding the second stage” of the deal, Netanyahu said. “Israel didn’t agree to end the war, but only to ‘discuss’ its end,” Netanyahu said, adding that such a discussion would occur after the hostages were returned and “only on our terms.”
“Despite what President Biden said, the number of hostages that will be released in the first phase has not yet been agreed upon. There are many details in the deal, and the war will not end without us achieving all of our objectives. We will not give up on absolute victory,” he said.
In a speech on Friday, Biden disclosed that a day earlier, a new three-phase Israeli proposal for a hostage deal was passed onto Hamas through Qatar and detailed some of its main terms.
Biden said the deal would “bring all the hostages home, ensure Israel’s security, create a better day after in Gaza without Hamas in power, and set the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
There is widespread dissatisfaction among senior Israeli officials who feel Biden’s remarks lacked specifics on how the stated goal of dismantling Hamas would be accomplished, fueling criticism that the US president misrepresented the full scope of Israel’s uncompromising stance in fully defeating the Palestinian terror group.
“People have unfortunately been led to believe that a permanent ceasefire kicks in without Israel’s conditions being met,” senior Netanyahu adviser Ophir Falk told The Algemeiner.
“The notion that there will be a permanent ceasefire before Hamas’ military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all our hostages are home is a non-starter,” he added.
Hours after Netanyahu charged Biden with omitting key elements of the deal, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters: “We’re confident that [Biden’s speech] accurately reflects that proposal — a proposal that we worked with the Israelis on, so I know of no gaps to speak of.”
Kirby said that Biden’s decision to disclose details about the deal was “about putting some public pressure on Mr. [Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas, who have repeatedly refused to accept what Israel has put forward.”
“We don’t typically go through the details of these kinds of proposals,” Kirby said. “But in this case, given where we are, given how much longer the hostages have now been held, given the fact that Hamas has reneged on several past occasions, on proposals that were sent to them, and given the fact that the Israelis really did work hard to come up with this proposal, and did so in good faith, the president felt it was important for the first time to publicly lay that out.”
“This wasn’t about jamming the prime minister or the war cabinet,” he said.
The far-right flank of Netanyahu’s governing coalition has sworn to collapse the government if a deal falls short of allowing the complete destruction of Hamas, which rules Gaza and launched the ongoing war with its Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel.
“This was about laying bare for the public to see how well and how faithfully and how assertively the Israelis came up with a new proposal — how it shows how much they really want to get this done,” Kirby said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday confirmed the deaths of four more hostages: Haim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell, all from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Three of the four — Perry, Metzger, and Cooper — appeared in a propaganda video released by Hamas on Dec. 18, in which the hostages urged Netanyahu “not to let us grow old here.”
According to the IDF, the four were murdered in Khan Younis shortly after the video was filmed.
Osnat Perry, the wife of Haim Perry and chairwoman of Nir Oz, released an open letter on Monday to Netanyahu calling on him to make the “moral, courageous, and correct decision” to bring home the hostages.
“The outline of your proposal, as presented this week by the president of the United States, is a sustainable and feasible outline that can put an end to the ongoing suffering that we and our friends from the Western Negev are experiencing,” Perry wrote.
On Oct. 7, Haim saved Osnat’s life by confronting the terrorists, purposefully leading them outside so that she had time to run and hide. A quarter of Nir Oz’s residents were murdered or taken as hostages to Gaza.
The post Israel Says Biden Omitted Key Detail From Gaza Ceasefire Plan, No Long-Term Truce With Hamas in Power first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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French Official Tells Paper Arab Countries Will Condemn Hamas, Trying to Get Palestinian Statehood Recognized
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot speaks to the media on the day he attends the European Union Foreign Ministers council in Brussels, Belgium, July 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Arab countries will for the first time condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament early next week at a United Nations ministerial event in New York, a move meant to lure more European countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, France’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
In an exclusive interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said the move was part of a long-planned initiative between France and Saudi Arabia.
“For the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament, which will seal its definitive isolation. European countries will in turn confirm their intention to recognize the State of Palestine. Half of European countries have done so, all others are considering it,” Barrot told the JDD.
“The British Prime Minister has stated his intention to do so. Germany is considering it at a later stage. We will launch an appeal in New York for other countries to join us in order to set in motion an even more ambitious and demanding process that will culminate on September 21,” Barrot added.
On Thursday French President Emmanuel Macron announced France would formally recognize the state of Palestine at the U.N. General Assembly on September 21, drawing condemnation from the U.S. and Israel.
Earlier on Saturday Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni called it counterproductive to recognize a Palestinian state before it is established.
On Friday a German government spokesperson said there were no plans to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term.
At the upcoming United Nations event on Monday and Tuesday, France and Saudi Arabia plan to lay out a proposed post-war roadmap leading to a two-state solution covering security, reconstruction and governance, which will be compatible with the Abraham Accords negotiated by US President Trump, Barrot said.
The French minister added that in coming weeks the European Commission would take a tougher stance on Israel and demand a stop on building of any new settlement projects in the West Bank, and also an end to militarized policing of humanitarian aid distribution.
Barrot also called on fellow European countries to demand a removal of the financial blockade on the Palestinian authority so it can receive 2 billion euros he said it is owed.
The post French Official Tells Paper Arab Countries Will Condemn Hamas, Trying to Get Palestinian Statehood Recognized first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan and UAE Drop Aid Into Gaza in First Airdrop in Months, Jordanian Source Says
An airplane drops humanitarian aid over Gaza as seen from northern Gaza Strip July 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tons of aid into the Gaza Strip on Sunday in their first airdrop in months, a Jordanian official source said.
The official said the air drops were not a substitute for delivery by land.
The post Jordan and UAE Drop Aid Into Gaza in First Airdrop in Months, Jordanian Source Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Says Israel Will Have to Decide on Next Steps in Gaza, Pledges More Aid
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza, adding that he did not know what would happen after the collapse of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with the Hamas terrorist group.
Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue, and said the US would provide more aid to the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
“They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.
“I know what I’d do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that I say it. But Israel is going to have to make a decision,” he said, while also claiming, without evidence, that Hamas members were stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, saying it had become clear that the Palestinian group did not want a deal.
Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending Hamas rule in the enclave.
Trump said he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down,” telling reporters: “Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it’s very bad. And it got to be to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job.”
US TO PROVIDE MORE AID, TRUMP SAYS
Trump on Sunday said the US would provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza, where concerns are mounting about the worsening hunger, but wanted other countries to participate as well. He said he would discuss the issue with von der Leyen.
“We’re giving a lot of money, a lot of food, a lot of everything,” he said. “If we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it’s not like they’re eating well.”
He said he had spoken with Netanyahu and discussed a number of issues, including Iran. He said and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would also discuss Israel when they meet at Trump’s golf property in Turnberry on Monday.
Trump also noted said the United States was not acknowledged for earlier food aid for Gaza.
“No other country gave anything,” he said, calling out European countries in particular. “It makes you feel a little bad when you do that and, you know, you have other countries not giving anything… Nobody gave but us. And nobody said, Gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.”
The post Trump Says Israel Will Have to Decide on Next Steps in Gaza, Pledges More Aid first appeared on Algemeiner.com.