Biden urges Netanyahu to cease-fire on Northern front amid Gaza truce
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The Israeli Channel 13 says that US President Joe Biden called on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to also work towards a truce on the Northern front.
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President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a meeting with Israeli and US officials, on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in 'Tel Aviv'. (AP)
Israeli media reported on Thursday that US President Joe Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to work toward a ceasefire on the Northern front, coinciding with the humanitarian pause in Gaza that would be implemented on Friday.
During a conversation between Biden and Netanyahu on Wednesday - before the tripartite press conference between Netanyahu, Security Minister Yoav Gallant, and a member of the war cabinet, Benny Gantz - the US president urged Netanyahu to work toward a ceasefire on the northern front within days.
Israeli Channel 13, political affairs analyst Moria Felberg quoted a political source as saying that Biden told Netanyahu that implementing a ceasefire on the northern front was possible, indicating that a ceasefire could take effect in the North as well, stressing: "It is right for Israel to work in this direction."
Felberg added that Netanyahu ended the conversation with Biden without giving any specific commitment, noting that the issue may be discussed during the upcoming talks between senior political officials in "Israel".
Read next: Hezbollah pounds Israeli outpost with 4 Burkan rockets
It is worth briefly highlighting that Amos Hochstein, a senior advisor to President Biden, landed in occupied Palestine on Monday to try to avert a war with Hezbollah, which Washington estimates that "Tel Aviv" is purposefully pushing for to drag the United States and other countries into it, Axios said in a report citing sources.
This comes as Lebanese-Palestinian border tensions are witnessing Resistance operations against Israeli military bases in support of Gaza, which are growing by the day. Hochstein was set to engage in sensitive discussions with top Israeli officials also amid fears that a new front against "Israel" might weaken it and impact its war on Gaza.
Scheduled truce in Gaza
This comes after the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced that The Gaza Strip's humanitarian pause is set to commence on November 24 at 7 am local time (05:00 am GMT), adding that the Palestinian resistance is scheduled to release the first captives at 04:00 pm on the same day.
The ministry stated that a total of 13 Israeli women and children will be released on the initial day of the humanitarian pause in exchange for several Palestinian women and children.
The ministry has reported the conclusion of discussions with all involved parties and mediators for a truce in the Gaza Strip. "The list of hostages that will be released has been handed to the Israeli Intelligence Services," the statement read.
A 'dramatic escalation' on the northern front
Earlier, the former spokesperson of the Israeli Occupation Forces described what is happening in northern occupied Palestine as a "dramatic escalation" that could lead to a "deterioration of the situation" in light of the intensifying attacks against Israeli sites along the borders.
Israeli media reported that this Thursday morning was very tense at the Lebanese-Palestinian borders, indicating that the alarm sirens sounded three times in half an hour.
Additionally, the correspondent of Channel 13 in the north stated that the firing of rockets from Lebanon toward the North is not stopping, and is reaching all the settlements in the north.
