Gaza ceasefire: Biden says deal ‘must get done’

The Times, June 4, 2024

Event

President Biden has said the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas “must get done” as the US sought support from the UN to back the proposal.

“We are working for a ceasefire and hostage deal that would allow the United States and our partners to begin the work to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza to help repair communities destroyed in the chaos of war. This deal must get done,”

Biden tweeted on Twitter/X. The comments come after the US circulated a one-page draft resolution to the UN Security Council to back the three-phase truce, which seeks to free all hostages, allow aid into the territory and end the almost eight-month war in Gaza.

“We call on Hamas to accept this deal, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and we urge countries with influence over Hamas to help ensure that it does so,”

the group, which includes the US and the UK, wrote in a joint statement. Yet the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has signalled to local media that the deal is conditional, saying the country will only agree to a ceasefire that includes the elimination of Hamas.

Comment

Since October 7th 2023 and the terrible Hamas attack on Israel, Biden has tried to cajole, coax and pressure Netanyahu to engage in discussions about a deal to end the war. The White House set deadlines and even red lines all of which faded. This latest and possibly final throw of the dice to get a deal looks likely to fail.  Netanyahu said

“claims that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect”.

He reiterated that the primary aim of the war was “the elimination of Hamas”. Israel remains determined to remove the pricking brier of Hamas. The Bible says that this will happen. Despite international pressure Israel’s nearby enemies will be destroyed.

Bible quote

And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about [surrounding / nearby] them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 28:24)

Weekly World Watch, Andy Walton,