By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - More than two dozen senators penned a letter to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday where they urged him to exert the utmost diplomatic efforts to cement a new cease-fire deal in Gaza that will facilitate the release of hostages that remain in Hamas captivity.
"We recognize that such a diplomatic achievement will require the agreement of the warring parties, and that its terms remain under negotiation," wrote the 25 lawmakers, led by Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
"In our judgment, it is in our urgent national interest - and the urgent humanitarian interest of millions of innocent civilians - that these negotiations succeed," they added.
The senators said they continue to support Israel's objective of removing Hamas from power in Gaza, but recognized that absent a halt to the fighting, "humanitarian conditions for civilians in Gaza will become even more catastrophic and thousands more innocents - including many children - will die."
"Without the space created for regional diplomacy by a restored ceasefire, the political conditions for durable peace and security will remain unreachable, and escalating regional conflict will continue to threaten U.S. national security," they added.
The Axios news website was the first to report the letter's existence.
Its release coincides with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to prevent a from returning to Egypt for the resumption of talks on a proposed hostage swap deal with Hamas. The talks were slated to resume Thursday.
“Netanyahu believes that Hamas must accept the terms set by Israel for making progress,” Israeli Channel 12 reported.
Officials from Israel, Egypt, Qatar and the US held a meeting Tuesday in Cairo to discuss a cease-fire and hostage-prisoner swap between the Palestinian group and Israel and the talks were expected to reconvene Thursday.
Asked about Netanyahu's decision during a news conference Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters: "We believe that there can be a deal, there should be a deal, and everyone should keep working hard to get that deal."
"I can't speak to the specific tactics of a meeting on any given day, but the direction of travel has got to be everybody doing everything they can, including the government of Israel, to try to reach a deal that is good for Israel, that is good for regional security, and that the United States is going to keep pushing hard on privately with the Israeli government and publicly from this podium," he said.
Last week, Hamas proposed a three-stage plan for a cease-fire that includes a 135-day pause in the fighting in return for the release of hostages, according to a Palestinian source.
Netanyahu, however, rejected the offer and vowed to continue his war on Gaza until Israel secures a “crushing victory” against the Palestinian group.
Israel believes that 134 Israelis are being held in Gaza after the Israeli military managed Monday to free two hostages in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing less than 1,200 people, the Israeli offensive into Gaza has killed more than 28,000 people and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.