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| EFE |
"If we continue in these circumstances until Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could become very dangerous. So we are making a great effort to achieve a ceasefire," Biden said in statements to the press before boarding Air Force One to return to the White House after spending a few days at Camp David.
Ramadan will start this year on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar. The United States, Qatar, and Egypt, mediators between Hamas and Israel, hoped to reach an agreement before the start of that holy month, in which tensions between Israelis and Palestinians usually intensify due to access to the old city of Jerusalem.
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Regarding the negotiations, Biden stated that the possibility of a six-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners is now "in the hands of Hamas."
Biden assured that "the Israelis have been cooperating" and that the Palestinian group has received a "reasonable offer" that Israel has already accepted, so now we just have to wait for Hamas's response.
The president was confident that an agreement will be reached and stated that we will know "something in the next two days."
In addition, he said he is working with Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and warned that "there are no excuses" for the Hebrew state not to authorize the entry of more assistance into the territory.
Given the difficulty of introducing humanitarian aid by land, several countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, France, and the United Arab Emirates, have launched food packages from the air.
The United States joined this strategy over the weekend and has announced that there will be more deliveries.
Also, the president assured that his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "as it has always been" in response to press questions.
In recent weeks, Biden has increased his public criticism of Netanyahu's military strategy in Gaza; on Monday, US Vice President Kamala Harris met at the White House with Israeli war government minister Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's own rival.
Gantz also plans to talk behind closed doors in Washington this Tuesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who in turn met this morning with Qatari Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abderrahman al-Zani.
These meetings in Washington are taking place in parallel with the talks that have been taking place in Cairo in recent days to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.