Biden Talks Up Gaza Ceasefire By “End Of The Weekend” Even As Israeli Officials Downplay

At a moment the Israelis are downplaying the possibility of a new hostage deal with Hamas, President Biden is out there claiming a ceasefire agreement is likely a mere days away. No other leader involved in the Qatar-mediate talks has offered this level of optimism and has certainly stayed away from predicting specific dates. All reports out of the region are negative on the prospect of a speedy truce deal.

But Biden while in an ice cream shop in New York with Seth Meyers was asked by a reporter when he thought a ceasefire could begin, to which he answered he hoped a truce would be implemented within days. “Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, by the end of the weekend,” he said.

And that’s when he even additionally offered Monday as the day the warring sides will reach a ceasefire. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is, by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.”

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His response was somewhat rambled, given he uttered the words “beginning” of the weekend to then quickly switching to “end” of the weekend, before asserting “by next Monday”.

It’s unclear if the president is going off of anything concrete at all, given Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier this month temporarily pulled his negotiating team from Doha. He has also repeatedly slammed Hamas’ demands as “delusional”. 

Political commentator Mario Nawfal quips, “Biden says Gaza ceasefire will be agreed by Monday. Hamas says no way. Qatar wonders what he’s been smoking.”

Yesterday, reports in Israeli media said the Israeli negotiating team is nowhere close:

An Israeli official sought to temper expectations on Monday as negotiators flew to Qatar to continue working on a potential hostage deal, telling The Times of Israel that there is not necessarily cause for optimism.

“We need to be careful,” said the official. “We’re still talking to ourselves.”

Currently, a proposed US-Israel-Egypt-Qatar deal outlined in Paris this past weekend would see Hamas release 40 hostages in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting. The Israelis would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli captives that would go free include women, children, the elderly and sick. But there are major obstacles in the way of an agreement, by all accounts.

Watch Biden prematurely declare a ceasefire will be likely “by the weekend”…

“My national security advisor tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”
President Joe Biden on Monday, said he hoped there would be a ceasefire in Gaza which could start by the beginning of next week. pic.twitter.com/8OoG1ogXPe

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) February 27, 2024

One Israeli official was cited in the The Times of Israel as explaining that the biggest gap on which the fiercest disagreement centers remains the question of “the end of fighting, the IDF leaving the Gaza Strip.” The official then said, “All the rest, we can figure out,” said the official.

The Netanyahu government has rejected as a non-starter the Hamas demand that Israeli forces first make a full withdrawal from the Strip before a ceasefire deal can take effect, and hostages can go free. Netanyahu has not only vowed to pursue the full eradication of Hamas, but he hasn’t backed off plans for an imminent ground offensive against Rafah, which is teeming with over one million refugees.

Meanwhile, Biden almost made it through the full thought…

Biden loses his train of thought after ⁦@sethmeyers⁩ asks how Americans can be assured he’s not too old for another 4 years pic.twitter.com/erYeNBXE7l

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 27, 2024