US to continue to push Gaza cease-fire proposal: Biden

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Joe Biden said Thursday the US would continue to push for a cease-fire proposal he announced for the conflict in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 37,000 victims.

Biden noted he laid out an approach that has been endorsed by the UN Security Council, the G7 and Israel.

"And the biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on, even though they have submitted something similar. Whether it comes to fruition remains to be seen. We're going to continue to push," the US president said at a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in Italy.

Biden was asked earlier if the leaders at the summit discussed the cease-fire deal. He responded, "Yes."

Asked if he is confident a deal will be completed, he said, "No," and added, "I haven't lost hope."

"Hamas has to move," said Biden.

On May 31, Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.