Biden Says Israel and Hamas Agree to Cease-Fire Framework, Negotiations ‘Making Progress’

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Middle East at the White House on May 31, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Joe Biden said on July 12 that Israeli and Hamas negotiators both have agreed to a framework for the Hamas terrorist organization to release hostages and for both sides to impose a cease-fire in the Israel–Hamas war.

President Biden said the development stems from a three-phase peace proposal that he laid out on May 31. Progress on the proposal had slowed in June after Hamas requested changes to the framework, although the Biden administration has signaled some headway in recent days.

“There is still work to do and these are complex issues, but that framework is now agreed to by both Israel and Hamas,” President Biden said in a July 12 social media post. “My team is making progress and I’m determined to get this done.”

The announcement came nine months into the conflict, which began after Hamas terrorists carried out widespread attacks across southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 people back to the Gaza Strip as hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that his wartime goal is to free all of the hostages, eliminate Hamas, and ensure that no new threat to Israel can persist in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Netanyahu’s office reiterated some of those objectives in a July 11 statement, amid reports of renewed deliberations on the cease-fire framework.

“Any outline must allow Israel to return to fighting until all the objectives of the war are achieved,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.

His office said that Israel wouldn’t allow weapons to flow into the Gaza Strip from Egypt or “the return of armed terrorists and the entry of war materiel to the northern Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli prime minister’s office also said his team will insist that Hamas releases “the maximum number of living hostages” possible in the first phase of a multipart cease-fire framework.

According to the terms that President Biden described on May 31, the first phase of the peace framework entails a temporary cease-fire period of at least six weeks. During this time, Israeli troops would pull back from the populated areas of the Gaza Strip. Hamas would release civilian hostages, and Israel would release Palestinians detained by Israel.

President Biden said the first phase of the peace framework would also see a surge of humanitarian assistance, with 600 truckloads of supplies reaching the embattled territory daily.

The president said the second phase of the peace framework would hinge on negotiations, however, the six-week cease-fire would be extended if the parties remain committed to those talks. If the negotiations prove successful, the second phase would see Hamas release the remaining hostages, consisting primarily of captured Israeli troops. In turn, President Biden said the temporary cease-fire would become permanent and Israeli forces would withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

Finally, in the third phase of the framework, the president said, Israel would permit reconstruction to begin in the Gaza Strip. In return, Hamas would return the remains of any hostages killed during the war.

The negotiations have largely played out behind closed doors. It isn’t entirely clear what changes have been made to the plan that President Biden laid out on May 31, and what new terms may now be on the table.