Biden tells Netanyahu fighting pause could help release some captives

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Axios
8 Nov 2023 03:05

Axios cites a US official as saying that a proposal being discussed between the US, "Israel", and Qatar stipulates the Palestinian Resistance release between 10 and 15 captives.

US President Joe Biden and Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in "Tel Aviv". (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

US President Joe Biden urged Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Monday to agree to a "three-day pause in the fighting" to allow progress in releasing a number of captives held by the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza, Axios reported citing two US and Israeli officials.

As per the US official, a proposal being discussed between the United States, the Israeli occupation, and Qatar stipulates that the Palestinian Resistance would release between 10 and 15 captives, and the three-day pause will be used to verify the identities of all the captives and compile a list of their names.

Israeli officials claim that at least 240 people were held captive by the Palestinian Resistance on October 7 when it launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The Resistance reported earlier that Hamas' efforts to release 12 foreign captives last week were thwarted by the Israeli occupation authorities.

Axios recalled that a senior American official told reporters on Friday that the indirect and complex nature of the negotiations has made progress difficult.

It further mentioned that CIA Director William Burns, who is currently in the Middle East, is primarily working on the captives file and held talks in "Israel" and will meet with Qatari officials later this week.

Earlier, Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Mayadeen that the Palestinian Resistance "has been clear from the beginning, demanding either a full prisoner swap or a ceasefire in exchange for the release of dual nationals."

Hamdan recalled that "Netanyahu disrupted the formula for releasing foreigners and a group of detainees and later disrupted the release of 12 foreigners."

On Tuesday, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that there will be no ceasefire, entry of workers from Gaza, or the passage of fuel into the Strip unless captives are released.

This comes as the Health Ministry in Gaza announced that the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip had reached 10,328, including more than 4,200 children.

Washington acknowledged on Monday there had been "thousands" of civilian casualties in Gaza after President Joe Biden previously called into question the validity of numbers published by the Health Ministry in Gaza.

"As it relates to civilian casualties in Gaza... we know the numbers are in the thousands," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists.

The World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted that an average of 160 children are killed each day in Gaza as a result of the Israeli aggression.

"The level of death and suffering is hard to fathom," WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva.

In addition, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement that the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip had deprived people there of food, water and medicine, and warned that the "sparse aid" trickling in was not able to provide people with the essentials to survive.