Biden urges Netanyahu to agree to 3-day fighting pause to help hostage releases: report

President Biden on Monday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to commit to a three-day pause in the fighting in Gaza to help secure the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas, according to a report.

Biden’s comments in his emergency phone call with Netanyahu came as a proposal has been discussed between the US, Israel and Qatar in which Hamas would purportedly agree to release 10-15 hostages during such a pause, an American official told Axios. 

Over the three days, Hamas would supposedly verify the identities of all the hostages the terrorist group is holding and release a full list of the captives, according to the report.

However, US and Israeli officials told the outlet that Netanyahu is reluctant to strike such a deal because he does not believe Hamas will hold up its end of the bargain.

His reservations stem from the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, when the terrorists attacked a group of Israeli soldiers, kidnapped one of them and killed several others during a humanitarian pause, the Israeli official told Axios.

The White House declined to comment on the conversation, saying it does not publicly discuss the president’s private phone calls.

“[Biden and Netanyahu] discussed the possibility of tactical pauses to provide civilians with opportunities to safely depart from areas of ongoing fighting, to ensure assistance is reaching civilians in need, and to enable potential hostage releases,” the White House said in a statement about the call.

Netanyahu said Monday in his first interview with US media since the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict that he expects Israeli forces to remain in Gaza for an “indefinite period.”

“The question of a cease-fire, the president himself has said that a cease-fire would be a surrender to Hamas, it would be a victory for Hamas,” the prime minister said.

He did, however, said there may be the opportunity for “tactical little pauses” to rescue hostages and provide aid to the millions of Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

“I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave, but I don’t think there’s going to be a general cease-fire,” Netanyahu added.

Hamas is still holding roughly 180 hostages seized when it launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, two Israeli officials told Axios. An additional 40 people are being held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and another 20 are being held by other militant factions.

More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, most of them civilians, during Hamas’ surprise attack that sparked the war. 

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 10,000. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The IDF has relentlessly bombarded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as it continues its push into northern Gaza and Gaza City, home to Hamas’ leadership.