While speaking at a fundraiser in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, President Joe Biden said there could be a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas if the U.S.-designated Islamic terror group “would release” the remaining hostages.
“There would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hamas would release the hostages, the women and the elderly and the wounded,” Biden said. “As I’ve said, it’s up to Hamas–if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow.”
Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, by land, sea, and air, leaving 1,200 Israelis murdered and more than 250 people taken as hostages. While some of the hostages have been released since then – there are still about 130 hostages remaining.
After the attack, Israel launched a self-defense operation in the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza.
Biden at a Seattle fundraiser just now: "There would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hamas would release the hostages, the women and the elderly and the wounded. As I’ve said, it’s up to Hamas -- if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow."
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) May 11, 2024
The comments from Biden came days after he said during an interview with CNN that he would withhold artillery and weapons from Israel if they invaded Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold. The week before Biden threatened to withhold weapons from Israel, the United States had halted a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah, they haven’t gone into Rafah yet, if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem,” Biden said during the interview.
Biden’s interview with CNN came after Hamas had fired a barrage of rockets from Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which is used as an entry point for humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. Four Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and ten others were left wounded from the attack.
The following day, the IDF urged residents to seek safety and evacuate Rafah. Hours after this, Hamas called for a ceasefire. In response, Israeli officials said Hamas was begging for a ceasefire and agreeing to terms that Israel had not even proposed or agreed upon.
On Tuesday, the IDF sent tanks into Rafah and took control of the border crossing Israel shares with Egypt.
As of Saturday, the IDF was urging more residents in Rafah to evacuate as they ramped up operations in preparation for a possible ground invasion.
