Biden says Gaza ceasefire deal 'still possible'

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said Sunday he believes that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is "still possible."

The talks are "still underway. We're not giving up. (It's) still possible," Biden told reporters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Sunday in Israel to push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

This marks his ninth trip to the region since the Israel-Hamas war began last October.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people, with around 250 taken hostage.

Besides killing more than 40,000 Palestinians since then, the Israeli military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have demanded that Israel adhere to previously agreed-upon terms based on a proposal backed by Biden and establish mechanisms for its implementation rather than carrying on negotiations while attacks continue.

The May 27 principles, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to, involved a proposal to the mediators – Egypt, Qatar and the US – that Israel maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.

Biden said in May that 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 ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

For months, the mediators have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The latest round of talks ended in the Qatari capital Doha on Friday without a breakthrough, but the US presented a fresh proposal that "builds on areas of agreement" and bridges remaining gaps in a manner that allows for "a swift implementation of the deal." (PNA)