Israeli PM Biden’s Message to Israel during the October 7 Hamas-Contaminated Attacks in the Philadelph Corridor
President Biden announced a week ago that Israel had an offer for a ceasefire and release of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, said in a statement on Friday that Mr. Blinken will be traveling to Israel, Egypt,Qatar and Jordan from Monday through Wednesday. The trip, which will be his eighth visit to the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that set off the war, comes at a particularly tense moment.
A buffer zone between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, known as the Philadelph Corridor, has soured relations between the two countries.
A cease-fire would “unlock the possibility of achieving calm along Israel’s northern border — so both displaced Israeli and Lebanese families can return to their homes,” Mr. Miller’s statement said.
The fears are rising that fighting might escalate along Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. The exchanges of fire have prompted evacuations on both sides of the border.
A number of Democratic lawmakers who have been supportive of Israel since the start of the war have said their attendance at Netanyahu’s address will be dependent on his decision to accept the peace deal at hand.
Johnson said it would be a great honor to invite the Israeli leader. In the press release Thursday, Johnson said Netanyahu responded to the invitation in kind.
“Less than three months later, the horrific attacks of October 7th shocked the world and forced your nation into a fight for its very existence,” read the letter from House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. We stand with the State of Israel in their fight against terror, especially since Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive.
Netanyahu has said that a temporary cease-fire is not feasible until long-standing conditions for ending the war are met.
The first phase of the deal described by Biden would last for six weeks and include a “full and complete cease-fire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, older people and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
That could expose Netanyahu to new elections, scrutiny over security failures that led to the war and, if he loses the prime minister post, prosecution on longstanding corruption charges.
In a statement after the date of the address was finalized, Schumer said he has “clear and profound disagreements with the Prime Minister, which I have voiced both privately and publicly and will continue to do so. But because America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister I joined the request for him to speak.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on July 24 as his country continues to wage war against Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks.
At the end of May, all four top Congressional leaders extended the formal invitation to Netanyahu.
The letter invites the Israeli leader “to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.”
The speech is expected to be contentious. Several Congressional Democrats have said that they would not attend the address due to concerns about the way Israel has handled its war against Hamas. Those protests will further highlight the divisions within Congressional Democrats over support of Israel.
In response, Israel issued a statement saying Netanyahu authorized a proposal in order to return the hostages to Israel, but said “the war will not end until all of [the Israeli government’s] goals are achieved, including the return of all our abductees and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.”