Biden urges Netanyahu to agree to 3-day fighting pause

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.

This is despite the fact that before this, international organizations have repeatedly called for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to this region due to the bad humanitarian situation caused by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.