Biden Urges Netanyahu: Time to Close the Deal

By Staff, Agencies

US President Joe Biden has spoken with "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expedite efforts to finalize a truce deal between the "Israeli" entity and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

According to a Thursday report by the American news website Axios, Biden and Netanyahu exchanged remarks during a telephone conversation, as stated by a White House official. "It is time to close the deal" aimed at enabling the release of "Israeli" captives and reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the official said, citing the conversation.

The entity has been waging a war against Gaza since October, when the coastal strip’s resistance movements took hundreds captive during the surprise retaliatory Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the occupied territories. The “Israeli” aggression has so far murdered more than 38,000 Palestinians, most of them women, children and adolescents.

A seven-day truce, mediated by Egypt and Qatar in November, saw Hamas releasing 105 captives in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas insists that any new truce deal must end the war, bring about the complete withdrawal of "Israeli" forces from Gaza, and involve a genuine captive/prisoner exchange deal.

The entity, however, says it will only accept temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is “eradicated”. Referring to Biden’s phone call with Netanyahu, Axios noted that a potential agreement “would be a huge foreign policy accomplishment for Biden, who is facing intense criticism after the presidential debate in June.”

During the first round of debates between Biden and Republican contender Donald Trump last week, Biden seemed to lose his chain of thought at several points, raising serious concerns among his fellow Democrats, friends, and family members about the 81-year-old's health and mental aptitude.

Since the debate, Biden has faced mounting pressure from those who believe that the US president should withdraw from the race due to his likely inability to carry out another four-year term.

In response to Biden, Netanyahu stated he had decided to send a delegation to continue truce negotiations, according to the report. The "Israeli" premier, however, reiterated "‘Israel's’ commitment to ending the war only after all of its goals have been achieved."