A Palestinian morns a relative killed in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip [Adel Hana/AP Photo]
United States President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed to halt its Gaza attacks for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He added that he hoped a temporary ceasefire would take hold next week as Hamas reviewed a truce deal that includes a prisoner-hostage swap.
Biden's remarks, which were recorded on Monday and were due to be broadcast later on Tuesday, come as negotiators try and hammer out a truce deal in the conflict which has raged since October last year.
A senior source close told the news media Reuters that the Islamist group, which Israel has vowed to annihilate, was studying a draft proposal that includes allowing in a significant amount of humanitarian aid, as well as swapping Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages captured in the Hamas attack that triggered the war.
The report said that the proposal is the most serious attempt in weeks to halt the fighting, and comes ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and with international pressure mounting on Israel to stop the killing of Palestinian civilians. Ramadan this year is expected to begin on the evening of March 10th.
U.S. and Israeli officials discussed a ceasefire proposal last week with Qatari and Egyptian mediators at a meeting in Paris. Delegations from Hamas and Israel are both in Qatar this week for so-called proximity talks, held in the same city through mediators.
Biden, who is running for re-election, told NBC there was an agreement in principle for a ceasefire between the two sides while hostages were released, adding that he hoped to have a ceasefire in the conflict by the following Monday.
"There are too many innocent people that are being killed. And Israel has slowed down the attacks in Rafah," Biden said, adding that Israel had committed to make it possible for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in Gaza's south before intensifying its campaign there to destroy Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as "delusional" Hamas' last offer for a ceasefire, during which all hostages would go free, Israel would withdraw its troops from Gaza and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.
On NBC, Biden said that a temporary ceasefire would jumpstart a process for Palestinians to have their state. Netanyahu, however, has rejected a two-state solution.
The new proposal now being weighed by Hamas included some of Hamas' initial demands for a ceasefire, and limited the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages to a ratio of 10 to one, the senior source close to the talks said.
According to what source told the news media Reuters, the draft states Hamas would free 40 Israeli hostages including women, children under 19, elderly over 50 and the sick, while Israel would release around 400 Palestinian prisoners and will not re-arrest them.
Mediators have ramped up efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, in the hope of heading off an Israeli assault on the Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million displaced people are sheltering at the southern edge of the enclave.
After Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 253 hostages on Oct. 7, Israel launched a ground assault on Gaza, with nearly 30,000 people confirmed killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
Source: Reuters
美國總統表示以色列準備在穆斯林聖月期間在加薩停火，而哈馬斯表示協議尚未完成
美國總統拜登表示，以色列已同意在穆斯林齋戒月期間停止對加薩的襲擊，並補充說，他希望下週能夠實現臨時停火，因為哈馬斯正在審查包括囚犯人質交換在內的停火協議。
拜登的言論於週一錄製，定於週二晚些時候播出，當時談判代表正試圖在自去年 10 月以來激烈的衝突中敲定一項停戰協議。
一位接近談判的高級消息人士告訴路透社，以色列發誓要消滅的伊斯蘭組織正在研究一項提案草案，其中包括允許提供大量人道主義援助，以及交換巴勒斯坦囚犯以換取在以色列境內俘獲的人質。哈馬斯的襲擊引發了戰爭。
這項提案是數週以來最認真的停止戰鬥的嘗試，是在穆斯林齋戒月之前提出的，國際社會對以色列施加的壓力越來越大，要求以色列停止殺害巴勒斯坦平民。 今年的齋戒月預計於3月10日晚間開始。
美國和以色列官員上週在巴黎舉行的會議上與卡達和埃及調解人討論了停火提案。 哈馬斯和以色列代表團本週均在卡達參加透過調解人在同一城市舉行的所謂近距離會談。
正在競選連任的拜登告訴全國廣播公司，雙方原則上已就停火達成協議，人質獲釋，並補充說，他希望在下週一之前實現衝突停火。
拜登說：「有太多無辜者被殺害。以色列已經放慢了對拉法的攻擊速度。」他補充說，以色列已承諾讓巴勒斯坦人能夠從加薩南部的拉法撤離，然後再加強那裡的行動，以確保巴勒斯坦人能夠從加薩南部的拉法撤離。摧毀哈馬斯。
以色列總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡拒絕了哈馬斯最後的停火提議，認為這是「妄想」。
在停火期間，所有人質將獲釋，以色列將從加薩撤軍，並就結束戰爭達成協議。
拜登在美國全國廣播公司 (NBC) 上表示，臨時停火將啟動巴勒斯坦人建立自己國家的進程。 然而，內塔尼亞胡拒絕了兩國解決方案。
熟悉談判的高級消息人士稱，哈馬斯目前正在權衡的新提案包括哈馬斯最初提出的部分停火要求，並將巴勒斯坦囚犯與以色列人質的交換比例限制在 10 比 1。
消息人士告訴路透社，草案規定哈馬斯將釋放 40 名以色列人質，包括婦女、19 歲以下兒童、50 歲以上老人和病人，而以色列將釋放約 400 名巴勒斯坦囚犯，並且不會重新逮捕他們。
調解者加大努力確保加薩停火，希望阻止以色列對加薩城市拉法的襲擊，該飛地南部邊緣有超過一百萬流離失所者避難。
據加薩衛生當局稱，哈馬斯於10月7日殺害1,200人並扣押253名人質後，以色列對加沙發動地面攻擊，已確認近3萬人死亡。
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