The president outlined a plan to try to get Hamas and Israel to break out of a monthslong deadlock that has resulted in the killing of thousands of Palestinians.
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transcript
Biden Endorses Israeli Cease-Fire Proposal
President Biden at the White House on Friday outlining a new three-phase proposal from the Israeli government that ideally would lead to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages. This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas. This is truly a decisive moment. Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it. Hamas needs to take the deal. For months, people all over the world have called for cease-fire. Now it’s time to raise your voices and demand that Hamas come to the table, agrees to this deal and ends this war that they began. At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7. And the Palestinian people have endured sheer hell in this war. Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. It’s time to begin this new stage. The hostages come home, for Israel to be secure, for the suffering to stop. It’s time for this war to end, and for the day after to begin. Thank you very much.
President Biden at the White House on Friday outlining a new three-phase proposal from the Israeli government that ideally would lead to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.CreditCredit…Cheriss May for The New York Times
Declaring Hamas no longer capable of carrying out a major terrorist attack on Israel, President Biden said on Friday that it was time for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and endorsed a new plan he said Israel had offered to win the release of hostages and end the fighting.
“It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” Mr. Biden said, speaking from the State Dining Room at the White House. He also gave a stark description of Hamas’s diminished capabilities after more than seven months of Israeli attacks, saying that “at this point, Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another Oct. 7.”
“This is truly a decisive moment,” Mr. Biden said. “Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.”
With that statement, Mr. Biden appeared to be revealing his true agenda: making public elements of the proposal in an effort to pressure both Hamas and Israel to break out of a monthslong deadlock that has resulted in the killing of thousands of Palestinians.
American officials have described Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, as interested only in his own survival and that of his family and inner circle, as they presumably operate from tunnels deep under southern Gaza. But officials have also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has little incentive to move to a real cease-fire, because of the widespread belief in Israel that as soon as the surviving hostages are returned, and a last cease-fire begins, he will most likely lose his fragile hold on power.
Mr. Biden’s remarks came at a pivotal moment in his re-election campaign, a day after his rival, former President Donald J. Trump, was convicted of 34 felony charges. At the same time, he has been facing growing pressure at home over the bloodshed in Gaza, which has led to eruptions on college campuses and on the streets of American cities, and alienated many of his own supporters.
Mr. Biden described the three-phase Israeli plan as a “comprehensive new proposal” that amounted to a road map to an “enduring cease-fire.” But at several moments in the past few months, Mr. Netanyahu has directly contradicted Mr. Biden. And so far Hamas has never accepted a comprehensive proposal, declaring in its public statements that fighting must end before major hostage releases or any agreement with Israel.
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Smoke rising after an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Friday.Credit…Eyad Baba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Hints of differences came almost as soon as Mr. Biden finished speaking. Following his speech, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said the Israeli government was “united in the desire to bring home our hostages as soon as possible.”
But it added that Mr. Netanyahu had stipulated to Israeli negotiators that they could not reach a deal that would end the war before all their goals were achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capacities in Gaza.
“The exact outline that Israel has offered — including the conditional progression from stage to stage — enables Israel to maintain that principle,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas reacted positively to Mr. Biden’s speech in a statement on social media, saying that it was willing to deal “constructively” with any cease-fire proposal based on a permanent truce, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and a “serious prisoner exchange.”
Many of the hard-liners in Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition did not immediately respond to Mr. Biden’s address because of the Jewish Sabbath, which began before his remarks. Mr. Netanyahu’s nationalist allies, like Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, have said they could leave the government if an agreement ended the war before Hamas’s complete destruction.
“I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely,” Mr. Biden said, adding that some in Mr. Netanyahu’s government have made clear they want to “occupy Gaza.”
“They want to keep fighting for years, and the hostages are not a priority to them,” Mr. Biden said in what appeared to be a direct message to the far-right members of Mr. Netanyahu’s cabinet. “I’ve urged leadership of Israel to stand behind this deal.”
Mr. Biden has faced questions over how long he was willing to support Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and particularly its most recent attacks in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The bloodshed in Gaza has left more than 36,000 people dead.
Israel’s national security adviser said this week that he expected the war to continue through at least the end of the year.
Global pressure to scale down the military operation increased after the International Court of Justice, an arm of the United Nations, ruled last week that Israel must halt its military offensive in Rafah. The court, however, has no means of enforcing the order.
An Israeli tank near the border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday.Credit…Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Friday’s remarks were Mr. Biden’s first public comments about the war since an Israeli strike and subsequent fire on Sunday killed at least 45 people, including children, and wounded 249 in an encampment for the displaced, according to Gazan health officials. A visual analysis by The New York Times found that Israel used U.S.-made bombs in the strike, forcing the White House to face difficult questions over American responsibility for rising death toll.
Mr. Biden said on Friday that he saw the “terrible images” from the deadly fire.
“The Palestinian people have endured sheer hell in this war,” Mr. Biden said after describing the pain of those whose relatives were “slaughtered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7” and the “anguish” of Israeli families waiting for hostages to be released.
Mr. Biden also said too many innocent people had been killed in Gaza, “including thousands of children,” and addressed the many Americans who are infuriated over the way his administration has handled the conflict.
“I know this is a subject on which people in this country feel deep passionate convictions,” Mr. Biden added. “So do I. This has been one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. There’s nothing easy about this.”
In describing the four-and-a-half page Israeli proposal, Mr. Biden said it would be broken into three phases. The first would begin with a roughly six-week cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza and a release of elderly and female hostages held by Hamas, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees. Mr. Biden said there were still details that still needed to be negotiated to move on to the next phase — apparently including how many Palestinians would be released in return for each freed Israeli hostage.
In the second phase, as described by a senior administration official who briefed reporters after Mr. Biden spoke, all the remaining Israeli hostages would be released, including male soldiers. All hostilities would end, and, the official said, all Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. In the past, Mr. Netanyahu has publicly rejected a complete withdrawal, maintaining that would result in a resurgent Hamas, once again in control of the territory.
It is unclear, from the description given to reporters in the briefing, who would govern the territory, though in the past the United States has said that would most likely be the Palestinian Authority, which has struggled to run the West Bank.
In the third phase, the remains of hostages who have died would be exchanged, rubble cleared and a three- to five-year reconstruction period would begin, backed by the United States, Europe and international institutions. But that plan sounded almost aspirational, given the level of destruction and the near-famine conditions.
Mr. Biden, however, portrayed this road map as reasonable — if the terrorist group goes along. “As long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary cease-fire will become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, a cessation of hostilities permanently,” Mr. Biden said.
American officials said they believed that following the meeting in Paris last weekend between William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, Israel made significant concessions on the hostage talks. Those included reducing the number of live hostages they required to be released in the early phase.
Still, a person briefed on the matter said the negotiations were “on pause” while Israel conducts its operation in Rafah.
Mr. Biden has also been involved in the hostage talks, even though he has not traveled for any of the negotiating sessions. Mr. Biden’s role, officials said, has been most notable in the pressure he has put on Mr. Netanyahu to continue to negotiate and reduce Israeli demands.
But on Friday, Mr. Biden was clearly focusing his pressure on Hamas, arguing that taking this offer was their best shot at ending the war and moving toward a cease-fire.
“Everybody who wants peace now must raise their voices,” Mr. Biden said, adding that the public should let Hamas leaders “know they should take this deal. Work to make it real, make it lasting and forge a better future out of the tragic terror attack and war.”
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Julian E. Barnes from Washington.
Bernd Debusmann Jr & Tom Bateman ,BBC News, Washington
US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a new Israeli proposal to end the conflict in Gaza, saying that “it’s time for this war to end”.
The three-part proposal would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza.
There would also be a “surge” of humanitarian aid, as well as an exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The deal would eventually lead to a permanent “cessation of hostilities” and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Hamas said it views the proposal “positively”.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Biden said that the first phase of the proposed plan would include a “full and complete ceasefire”, the withdrawal of IDF forces from populated areas and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
“This is truly a decisive moment,” he said. “Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.”
The ceasefire, he added, would allow more humanitarian aid to reach the beleaguered territory, with “600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day”.
The second phase would see all remaining living hostages returned, including male soldiers. The ceasefire would then become “the cessation of hostilities, permanently.”
Among those who have urged Hamas to agree to the proposal was UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said on X that the group “must accept this deal so we can see a stop in the fighting”.
“We’ve long argued a stop in the fighting can be turned into a permanent peace if we are all prepared to take the right steps,” Lord Cameron added. “Let’s seize this moment and bring this conflict to an end.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the development in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter. He said the world had “witnessed too much suffering [and] destruction in Gaza” and said it was “time to stop”.
“I welcome [President] Biden’s initiative [and] encourage all parties to seize this opportunity for a ceasefire, release of all hostages, guaranteed unhindered humanitarian access [and] ultimately a durable peace in the Middle East,” he added.
In his speech, Mr Biden acknowledged that negotiations between phases one and two would be difficult.
As recently as a few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was letting it be known that he was implacably opposed to agreeing to end the war as part of a ceasefire deal – making Mr Biden’s reference to the war’s end particularly significant.
While the plan includes many of the details from previous, ultimately failed rounds of talks, the US calls for a permanent ceasefire appear to be a significant concession designed to try and draw Hamas back to negotiations on terms they have already said they would agree to. A permanent ceasefire has been one of the group’s key demands.
The third phase of the proposal would see the final remains of any deceased Israeli hostages returned, as well as a “major reconstruction plan” with US and international assistance to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals.
Biden urges Israel to stand behind three-phase Gaza plan
In his remarks, Mr Biden acknowledged that some Israelis – including officials within Israel’s government – would likely be opposed to the proposal.
“I’ve urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal,” he said. “Regardless of whatever [political] pressure comes.”
The US president also directly addressed the Israeli people, telling them that “we can’t lose this moment”.
Notably, Mr Biden said that Hamas has now been degraded to the extent that it can no longer repeat an attack such as that which its fighters conducted on 7 October – a likely signal to the Israelis that Washington sees the war as done.
In a statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted that the war would not end until its objectives were achieved, including the return of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities. He said the latest plan would allow Israel to uphold these principles.
Hamas, for its part, said that it views the proposal “positively” because of its call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and the exchange of prisoners.
The group said it was ready to “deal positively and constructively” with any proposal centred on a permanent ceasefire, provided that Israel “declares its explicit commitment to that”.
Another Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations who has seen the new Israeli proposal said that the document did not include a guarantee that the war will end, nor that IDF troops would withdraw from Gaza completely.
The proposal has been transmitted to Hamas through mediators based in Qatar.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his counterparts in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to try to build a wider support for the proposal.
Mr Blinken “emphasized that Hamas should accept the deal and that every country with a relationship with Hamas should press it to do so without delay,” state department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Friday night.
Faced with mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, President Biden has faced growing domestic criticism over the level of US support for Israel, and calls to do more to encourage the warring sides to negotiate.
Earlier this week, however, the White House said that it does not believe that Israeli operations in Rafah amount to a “major ground operation” that could cross a red line and trigger a possible change in US policy.
The statement came after an Israeli air strike and resulting fire killed at least 45 Palestinians on Sunday.
In a separate announcement on Friday, US lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum formally invited Mr Netanyahu to address Congress in Washington.
It is unclear when the address would take place.
More than 36,000 have been killed across Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began in October when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 back to Gaza as hostages.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X in support of the ceasefire agreement announced by US President Joe Biden on Friday.https://t.co/aKHHGB5542
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) June 1, 2024
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Germany joined the United States on Friday in authorizing Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying — a significant policy change that comes as depleted Ukrainian troops are losing ground in the war.
Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration over restrictions on the use of Western weapons — especially as the border region of Kharkiv has endured a Russian onslaught this month that has stretched Kyiv’s outgunned and outmanned forces.
Both Germany and the U.S. specifically authorized the use of weapons to defend Kharkiv, whose capital city of the same name lies only 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Russia. Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment building in the city overnight, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least six people.
Beyond offering Ukraine a chance of better protecting Kharkiv by targeting Russian capabilities in the region, it’s not clear what effect the easing of restrictions might have on the direction of the conflict in what is proving to be a critical period. But it drew a furious response from Moscow and warnings it could draw Russia into war with NATO.
AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports on Russia’s unrelenting attacks on Kharviv.
The German government said Ukraine can use weapons it supplies against positions just over the border, from where Russia launches its attacks on Kharkiv. A day earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden gave Kyiv a green light to strike back with American weapons at Russian military assets targeting the region, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken said Kyiv had asked Washington for permission to use U.S.-supplied weapons against the Kremlin’s troops amassing on the Russian side of the border for attacks inside Ukraine. Biden’s approval was for that purpose, Blinken said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague.
U.S. officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, stressed that the U.S. policy calling on Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia has not changed.
In response, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said Friday that “Ukraine and its NATO allies will receive such a devastating response that the alliance won’t be able to avoid entering the conflict” — an eventuality that Western governments have ruled out.
Western leaders have hesitated to ease the restrictions on their weapons because of the risk it would provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly warned that the West’s direct involvement could put the world on a path to nuclear conflict. Last week, Russia said military drills involving tactical nuclear weapons had begun.
But as Russia has recently gained the battlefield initiative in some parts of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, some Western leaders have pushed for a policy change allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by its Western partners.
The Kremlin’s bigger and better-equipped army is exploiting Ukrainian shortages in troops and ammunition after a lengthy delay in U.S. military aid. Western Europe’s inadequate military production has also slowed crucial deliveries to Ukraine.
The German government statement noted that, in recent weeks, Russia has prepared, coordinated and carried out attacks on the Kharkiv region, in particular from areas just over the border in Russia.
“Together we are convinced that Ukraine has the right under international law to defend itself against these attacks,” the statement said. “For this, it can also use the weapons delivered for that purpose in accordance with its international legal commitments, including the ones delivered by us,” it added.
The question of whether to allow Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil with Western-supplied weaponry has been a delicate issue since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday he supported lifting the limits on Ukraine’s use of Western weaponry, saying it’s “a matter of upholding international law — Ukraine’s right to self-defense.”
“Putin wanted to deter the NATO allies from supporting Ukraine. But we are not and we will not be deterred,” Stoltenberg said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström noted that his country had not restricted Ukraine’s use of its weapons at all, while Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Rome won’t let Kyiv use Italian weapons outside its territory.
In Moscow, Medvedev repeated Russian warnings that the steps being taken could set NATO and Russia on the path to a nuclear conflict. “It’s not an attempt to scare or any sort of a nuclear bluff,” he said.
Russia’s newly appointed defense minister, Andrei Belousov, claimed Friday that Russian troops are “advancing in all tactical directions,” including in the Kharkiv region where he said they have pushed Ukrainian forces back by as much as 9 kilometers (5 miles). Russian forces captured 28 towns and villages over the past month, he said.
Overall since the start of the year, Russian forces have taken control of 880 square kilometers (340 square miles) of territory, he added.
It was not possible to verify his battlefield claims.
Overnight into Friday, Russia launched five ballistic missiles at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s air force said. One of them struck a residential building close to midnight and was followed by another missile 25 minutes later that hit first responders, according to regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.
Six people were killed, according to Syniehubov, and at least 25 were wounded.
Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russia of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles — the first one to draw emergency crews to the scene and the second one to wound or kill them. Russia used the method in Syria’s civil war.
Apart from Kharkiv, Moscow’s troops are pressing in the Donetsk region further south and are assembling a force for an expected attack in the Sumy region further north, according to Ukrainian officials.
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Lee and Janicek reported from Prague. Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Ellen Knickmeyer, Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
There’s a new front line in Donald Trump’s battle to get elected.
Just minutes after he was found guilty on all 34 felony counts on Thursday, I heard from a person close to the former president who described this moment as a “civil war” within the Republican Party.
The historic nature of Trump’s criminal conviction is being leveraged by his campaign as a sort of roll-call vote to see which politicians will defend the former president and which of them will defend America’s legal system. It appears you can’t do both.
Last night, a weather balloon was sent up.
Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican who is running for an open Senate seat in liberal-leaning Maryland, took to social media to urge all Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process”.
Within minutes, Chris LaCivita, a top official on Trump’s campaign, posted a crystal-clear reply to Mr Hogan: “You just ended your campaign.” The implication: if you’re not with us on this, you’re politically dead.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has been a Trump critic for years
I asked a different Republican official who had worked on Trump’s last presidential campaign whether he agreed that this moment was a “civil war” for his party. He dismissed the idea. To him, it seems any war that once existed within his party was won long ago – by Donald Trump.
“Even if you don’t like Trump, he’s better than what we’ve got [in Joe Biden],” he said. “It’s an easy choice.”
And for now, it seems that the vast majority of Republican politicians agree with him – at least in public.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson said that Thursday was “a shameful day in American history” and that Trump’s conviction was “a purely political exercise, not a legal one.” Steve Scalise, another top Republican in Congress, said that America’s legal system was operating like a banana republic. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared the process to a “kangaroo court”.
But the fiercest defence of the former president may have come from Florida Senator Marco Rubio – who, back in 2016 when they were rivals for the Republican nomination, was one of Trump’s most vocal critics.
“This is a quintessential show trial,” Rubio said. “This is what you see in communist countries. This is what I grew up having people in the [Cuban exile] community tell me about. It happened in the days after the Castro revolution.”
Comparing America’s system of justice – with its independent juries and open trials and rule of law – to that of communist Cuba will stun many Americans. Mr Rubio isn’t just saying that these particular jurors made the wrong call in finding Trump guilty. He is going much further than that. He is making a full-blown denunciation of America’s legal system at large.
REUTERS/Joe Skipper
Florida’s Senator Rubio has become a strong Trump supporter
But there’s a clear political strategy here. These types of defences align with Trump’s larger belief that many of his issues are not with individuals – whether they be voters or jurors. Instead, he feels that many of the bedrock structures of American government, like its electoral process and its judicial system, its media, its intelligence agencies, are fundamentally and unfairly rigged against him. It’s why, at his rallies, he calls for the “deep state” to be dismantled, to great cheers.
In Trump’s eyes, a claim that America’s legal system is functioning properly is a de facto critique of him – and to criticise him risks alienating both the former president and his sizable base of supporters within the party. It’s a step that many Republican officials are wary of taking.
It’s too early to tell whether this moment could still bubble into a civil war among Republicans or whether Trump’s years-long grip on his party will ultimately stifle any meaningful wave of dissent.
What’s apparent, though, is how ferocious the Trump camp has been in shoring up support.
Throughout Donald Trump’s political career, there have been a handful of scandalous moments where there was a very real risk that he could lose the support of his party: the Access Hollywood tape, his impeachments, his indictments, the FBI raid on his home – the list goes on.
For now, he seems to have avoided losing the most prominent politicians within his party. But the same might not be true for voters.
Earlier this month, an ABC News/IPSOS poll found that one fifth of Donald Trump’s supporters said they would either reconsider or withdraw their support for him if he were convicted of a felony.
In an era when presidential elections are ultimately decided by a few thousand voters in a few swing states, it remains to be seen whether this guilty verdict will ultimately move that dial.
REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
REUTERS/Joe Skipper