By Steven Nelson | New York Post
WASHINGTON — President Biden announced a proposed Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip without defeating Hamas Friday — claiming that the terrorist group is now incapable of “carrying out another October 7th.”
Biden asserted that Hamas had been all but crushed militarily while unveiling a new three-stage cease-fire plan, which has been accepted by the Israeli government.
“The people of Israel should know they can make this offer without any further risk to their own security because they’ve devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months,” the 81-year-old president said.
“At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7th, which is one of the Israelis’ main objectives in this war, and quite frankly, a righteous one.”
Biden said the plan, which was transmitted to Hamas on Thursday, would result in the release of dozens of hostages taken from southern Israel in the Hamas surprise attack that killed about 1,200 people, including at least 33 Americans.
The first stage calls for a six-week cease-fire in which Hamas would release all non-male and uninjured hostages in exchange for the release of “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners and Israel removing troops from populated areas of Gaza. The delivery of humanitarian assistance would also be stepped up, with 600 trucks allowed into Gaza each day.
The second phase specifies vague negotiations toward a permanent cease-fire in exchange for the release of remaining hostages “including male soldiers” and “Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza,” Biden said.
Biden did not say whether any non-Hamas military forces would replace the Israelis in Gaza — as Hamas remains in command of pockets of territory, including parts of the city of Rafah along the Egyptian border.
A US official told reporters that the proposal calls for an “interim administration” in Gaza, without further details — adding it does not preclude Israeli efforts to “pursue justice” for Oct. 7, including against Hamas mastermind Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to remain alive in Gaza.
“I’ll be straight with you: There are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two,” Biden said.
The third phase of the proposed deal includes a “major reconstruction plan” and the delivery of deceased hostage remains, the US president said.
“Rebuilding of Gaza will begin with Arab nations and international community, along with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, to get it done in a manner that does not allow Hamas to rearm,” Biden promised, “and the United States will work with our partners to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza to help repair communities that were destroyed in the chaos of war.”
Biden also pronounced, “it’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin” — floating among other benefits to Israel a “potential historic normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia” that would ensure broader regional cooperation among US allies against Iran.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he authorized negotiators to secure the return of all hostages still held in Gaza and to “present a proposal to that end.”
However, Netanyahu’s office also insisted Israel’s war will not end “until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.”
Hamas official Bassim Naim described the proposal outlined by Biden as “positive progress,” but did not elaborate.
There are five US citizens who are believed to remain hostages in Gaza, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, who lost a hand in the Oct. 7 attacks and who appeared in a recent propaganda video.
Missing Americans include Tenafly, NJ, native Edan Alexander, 20, and former New York City resident Omer Neutra, 22, both of whom were serving in the Israeli military.
Father of three Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who moved from Connecticut to Israel as a child, and Keith Siegel, 65, who moved to Israel in 1980, also remain missing after being kidnapped near the Gaza border.
Israel in March agreed to a six-week US-proposed cease-fire that would have released all remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for Israel releasing roughly 700 Palestinian inmates, including about 100 convicted of killing Israelis.
Hamas rejected that plan and instead demanded that Israel release all of the roughly 9,000 Palestinian prisoners held for anti-Israel activities.
Biden declared himself a “Zionist” and visited Israel in a show of support days after the Oct. 7 attacks, but has increasingly criticized Netanyahu over civilian casualties in the course of the war — as polling showed his re-election bid imperiled by outrage over Biden’s pro-Israel stance among important Democratic constituencies.
with Post wires.
