The leaders’ statement also stresses that Gaza residents “would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions”.
The leaders’ joint statement comes a day after Hamas released a proof-of-life video showing one of the hostages, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, after more than 200 days in captivity.
The 23-year-old Israeli-American was taken hostage at the Tribe of Nova music festival after Hamas launched its attack from nearby Gaza on 7 October.
According to those witnesses, Mr Goldberg-Polin tied a tourniquet around his own wound before being bundled into the truck by Hamas militants.
On Wednesday, Mr Biden met with Abigail Edan, a four-year-old Israeli-American who was also taken hostage during the October attacks.
She was released as part of an earlier temporary ceasefire deal negotiated in part by the US.
The White House official placed the blame for the continued hostilities in Gaza squarely on Hamas’ rejection of the pending hostage deal, and in particular on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“There is a deal on the table that would bring a ceasefire immediately to Gaza, simply with the release of women, wounded, elderly and sick hostages, that is ready to go.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, President Joe Biden and a group of 17 other heads of state and government whose citizens are being held hostage by Hamas are pleading with the militant group to accept a deal that has been in the works for some time and demanding the hostages’ “immediate release.”.
Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, and the United Kingdom all released statements at the same time stating that the “fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza who are protected under international law is of international concern.”.
It states, “We emphasize that the agreement to free the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities.”.
Gazans “would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions,” the leaders emphasize in their statement.
In the statement, Hamas was urged to “let us end this crisis so that collectively we can focus our efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region.”.
The “collection of leaders” who worked together on the joint statement was dubbed “quite extraordinary” by a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on the announcement. The official added that the current state of affairs involving the hostages played a major role in the leaders’ ability to reach a unanimous decision on the draft statement.
The leaders’ joint statement was made the day after Hamas, following more than 200 days of captivity, revealed a proof-of-life video featuring Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
In the undated video, which seemed to have been recorded under duress, Mr. Goldberg-Polin declared that about 70 captives had died as a result of Israel’s bombing campaign and charged that the Israeli government had abandoned the people that Hamas was holding as hostages.
Following the start of Hamas’s attack on October 7 from nearby Gaza, the 23-year-old Israeli-American was taken hostage at the Tribe of Nova music festival. In the video, a portion of Mr. Goldberg-Polin’s left arm is absent. He reportedly lost it when the attackers threw grenades into a shelter where people had taken cover, according to witnesses. These witnesses claimed that Mr. Goldberg-Polin bandaged his own wound with a tourniquet before Hamas militants forced him into the truck.
Mr. Biden met with four-year-old Israeli-American Abigail Edan on Wednesday. Abigail was also kidnapped during the October attacks. She was freed as part of a previous agreement for a temporary ceasefire that the US helped to negotiate.
The official said that Abigail was given permission to play under the famous desk made of HMS Resolute timbers and crawl through the same door in the desk made famous in a photograph of then-president John F. Kennedy Jr., during the more than hour-long meeting between the president, the four-year-old, and her family in the Oval Office.
The White House representative directly blamed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, for the ongoing hostilities in Gaza, citing Hamas’ rejection of the ongoing hostage agreement.
“The decision to accept the deal really rests with one guy, dot. We want to bring these people home, so of course we’re very open to making any necessary adjustments here and there, the official said.
A deal is on the table that would bring about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of all ready-to-go hostages who are women, wounded, elderly, and sick. Furthermore, Hamas has rejected the meticulous detail we worked out. And as a result, fighting in Gaza is still going on,” he said.
“Despite how horrible this situation is on many levels, there is one basic fact that underlies it all: Hamas is holding hostages, publishing footage of them, and refusing to allow them to return to their families. If they were to follow through on that, this crisis would come to an end. It’s just an extremely obvious route. “.
