Quote:President Joe Biden recently gave a glimmer of hope for those seeking a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as the fighting in Gaza continues. During a recent conversation with reporters, he indicated that a cessation of hostilities could happen as early as next week.

However, given the constantly changing dynamics surrounding the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the world will be watching to see what unfolds as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continues its campaign to destroy the terrorist group.

Biden explained on Monday that the White House is pushing for a ceasefire "by next Monday."

President Joe Biden said Monday that he hopes there will be a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war by next week.

"My hope is by next Monday we will have a cease-fire," Biden said in response to a reporter's question while he was in New York City.

"My national security advisor tells me that we’re close, close but not done yet," he said.

Biden's remarks come as the White House has been working on cease-fire negotiations amid growing pressure from progressives and Palestinian allies.

NBC News has previously reported that Qatar is mediating talks between Israel and Hamas this week, and cease-fire negotiations have taken place between U.S., Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials in Paris.

Israel’s military is planning a ground offensive in Rafah, where about 1.5 million people are taking refuge. Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the military has proposed a plan for evacuating civilians.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said that if there was a temporary cease-fire, Israel would "then continue fighting until the very last hostages return."

The president’s remarks come against the backdrop of a bloody conflict that has been raging since October 7, 2023, following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that resulted in 1,200 dead Israelis and the kidnapping of over 200 hostages. When Israel retaliated against Hamas, it elicited an outpouring of condemnation against the Jewish state coming from the United Nations and other players on the international stage. Calls for a ceasefire rose precipitously after the IDF invaded Gaza.

Qatar is helping to mediate negotiations for a cessation of fighting and an exchange of prisoners and hostages. The United States and Egypt have also played a part in the proceedings.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has discussed the evacuation of civilians from combat zones while declaring that an invasion of Rafah is imminent, especially if Hamas does not agree to a prisoner/hostage trade. During a recent interview, he indicated that the IDF is close to its goal of eradicating the terrorist group and that after invading Rafah, it will only be a matter of weeks before the most fierce fighting is concluded. Netanyahu said:

Hamas is a terrorist organization that- once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion, not months, weeks away from completion. And that is- we've already destroyed 18 of the 24 Hamas terrorist battalions. So we- we have– and four of them are concentrated in the Rafah. We can't leave the last Hamas stronghold without taking care of it, obviously, we have to do it. But understand, too, that I've asked the army to submit to me a double plan, first to evacuate to enable the evacuation of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and, obviously, second, to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions.

As the negotiations continue, the possibility of a ceasefire is drawing attention from the rest of the world. However, even if there is a temporary halt to the fighting, Netanyahu has made one thing clear: The war will not end until Hamas is annihilated, and not a second sooner.

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What demand? A demand requires there has to be some sort of consequences if they don't do what you demand. When Bibi and company continue doing whatever the hell they want the Biden administration will continue to leak how annoyed they are but will continue allowing them to do whatever they want.

Biden has about as much influence over Israel as he has over Hamas.

The war will end when one side gives up, and not one minute sooner.

(02-27-2024 04:26 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  What demand? A demand requires there has to be some sort of consequences if they don't do what you demand. When Bibi and company continue doing whatever the hell they want the Biden administration will continue to leak how annoyed they are but will continue allowing them to do whatever they want.

Any US president is going to do whatever Israel demands.

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Biden Claim of Possible Imminent Ceasefire Appears to Have Been Nonsense, and That's Concerning

Quote:We reported on Joe Biden's claim about a possible ceasefire by next Monday.

But as I noted in reporting on his Seth Meyer's interview, Biden was eating ice cream, and he appeared to not know what he was saying even as he said it.

"Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend," Biden said

"I mean the end of the weekend. At least my national security advisor tells me that we're close."

So the media ran with that. Unfortunately, it's Joe Biden, so they should have known better.

That's a big problem when you can't even trust if he knows what he's talking about from one minute to the next — when he can't get leaders' names right or even the year right.

When Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was asked about it, he said he was "surprised" by what Biden said. That doesn't bode well for Biden's claim being hinged in any kind of reality.

Netanyahu further said in a statement later on Tuesday that he had been "leading a political campaign whose purpose is to curb the pressures intended to end the war before its time" and that the Harvard-Harris poll indicates that 82 percent of the American people support Israel. "This gives us two more strength to continue the campaign until the complete victory," he said.

That sounds like it might be a shot at Biden's effort to pressure him.

It turns out even Hamas and Qatar (who has been brokering talks) shot down Biden's claim about a potential temporary ceasefire. One Hamas leader, Ahmad Abdelhadi, said they weren't agreeing to any deal that didn't have a permanent ceasefire. The Qataris who have been brokering talks said that while they were optimistic, there hadn't been any breakthroughs.

In other words, Biden seems to have had no idea what he is talking about.

So the press asked NSC spokesperson John Kirby if he could explain what Biden was talking about.

Kirby said he couldn't speak for why Netanyahu was surprised, ducking the question about why Biden said it. He also claimed that Biden was being kept up to speed on the issue. Yet it doesn't appear that Biden is "up to speed" when he gets something like that so wrong.

Translation: Hey, he was just misleading everyone, no harm, no foul. It just happened to be on the eve of the Michigan primary with its substantial Muslim population. So you can take your pick: complete nonsense exaggeration because he's out of his mind and/or trying to convince voters to vote for him with the claim.

Either way, if we can't rely upon our alleged leader having some relation to reality — if other countries can't rely upon what our leader is saying — we are in deep doo.

(02-27-2024 04:55 PM)b2b Wrote:  

(02-27-2024 04:26 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  What demand? A demand requires there has to be some sort of consequences if they don't do what you demand. When Bibi and company continue doing whatever the hell they want the Biden administration will continue to leak how annoyed they are but will continue allowing them to do whatever they want.

Any US president is going to do whatever Israel demands.

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We've always given them nearly everything they've ever asked for, but past Presidents have told them to cut sh*t out and made real threats and cut off things to them. Reagan for example

"Reagan took several actions that many in Israel and the United States perceived as anti-Israel. For example, on June 7, 1981, less than six months after Reagan took office, Israel launched a surprise bombing raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, and, in so doing, violated the airspace of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Reagan not only supported UNSC Resolution 487, which condemned the attack, but he also criticized the raid publicly and suspended the delivery of advanced F-16 fighter jets to Israel. Moreover, over the strident objections of Israel and the pro-Israel U.S. lobby groups, Reagan approved the sale of advanced reconnaissance aircraft (AWACS ) to Saudi Arabia, which Israel then viewed as a hostile state."

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/0...l-to-task/

HW Bush did the same thing.

"Shamir correctly concluded that this was the Bush administration’s first step in linking U.S. economic aid to Israel’s performance in the peace process. Shamir declined to defer Israel’s request and ordered its lobby into action to support the request in Congress. Bush, meanwhile, asked congressional leaders to defer consideration of the request for 120 days. When AIPAC brought Jewish activists from all over the United States for a two-day Washington lobbying blitzkrieg, Bush went public. In a televised news conference he complained that as “one little guy” trying to postpone consideration of Israel’s financial demands, he was up against “a thousand lobbyists” on Capitol Hill.

Consideration of the loan guarantees was deferred for 120 days. Needing the money, a reluctant Yitzhak Shamir had no choice but to come to the Madrid peace conference. There, his unwillingness, in his own words, to trade “one inch of territory for peace” was put on public view. Under even heavier pressure, his government accepted an invitation to participate in bilateral Washington talks with the Palestinians and Israel’s Arab neighbors, which promised only more erosion of public opinion support for Israel.…"

https://www.wrmea.org/2019-january-febru...price.html

Biden talks about how concerned he is, and how much of an A hole he thinks Bibi is, but the second you ask what are they going to do about it they start stuttering.

(02-28-2024 09:45 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Biden talks about how concerned he is, and how much of an A hole he thinks Bibi is, but the second you ask what are they going to do about it they start stuttering.

In fairness, Biden’s stuttering is probably just an inevitable symptom of his broader cognitive decline.

IMO, Israel isn't going to bow down to any foreign power over any of this.

(02-28-2024 09:55 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(02-28-2024 09:45 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  Biden talks about how concerned he is, and how much of an A hole he thinks Bibi is, but the second you ask what are they going to do about it they start stuttering.

In fairness, Biden’s stuttering is probably just an inevitable symptom of his broader cognitive decline.

Should have been more clear I'm talking about the people actually in charge like Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken who say how much pressure they are putting on Israel to do things and then the second they get asked what they are going to do when Bibi ignores them it's crickets.

(02-28-2024 09:56 AM)VA49er Wrote:  IMO, Israel isn't going to bow down to any foreign power over any of this.

Agreed.

For Israel, this is a matter of survival. And now they are at a point where they can produce their own weapons or get them somewhere else, so the U.S. really cannot yank their chain anymore, the way we could from Truman to Clinton/Bush. The existing military contracts between the U.S. and Israel are as much about enriching U.S. defense contractors as they are about making Israel safe. So if Biden’s handlers decide to turn that faucet off, it’s another domestic constituency that’s going to be mad in an election year.

(02-28-2024 09:45 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(02-27-2024 04:55 PM)b2b Wrote:  

(02-27-2024 04:26 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  What demand? A demand requires there has to be some sort of consequences if they don't do what you demand. When Bibi and company continue doing whatever the hell they want the Biden administration will continue to leak how annoyed they are but will continue allowing them to do whatever they want.

Any US president is going to do whatever Israel demands.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

Biden talks about how concerned he is, and how much of an A hole he thinks Bibi is, but the second you ask what are they going to do about it they start stuttering.

If Biden doesn't like someone, then that person must be alright.

If Biden likes someone, then that person is probably an idiot, evil, or both.