Joe Biden said Friday that he “hopes” there can be a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins on the evening of March 10 or 11.
When asked by journalists about the possibility of an agreement on a ceasefire in Palestinian territory by that date, the American president replied: “I hope so, we are still working a lot on this issue. We are not there yet.”
“We'll get there, but we're not there yet and maybe we won't get there,” he said as he left the White House to spend the weekend at the presidential residence at Camp David near Washington.
The Democrat said earlier in the week that he hoped for an agreement on a six-week ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hamas by the following Monday, March 4, but returned to that agenda.
Israeli shootings and stampedes during a humanitarian aid distribution, which Hamas said left more than 110 dead, could have complicated negotiations, the president previously acknowledged.
Given the desperate situation in Gaza, Joe Biden decided on Friday to involve the United States “in the coming days” and for the first time in airdrops of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory besieged by the Israeli army.