“The time has come to end this war,” President Biden said in a speech on Friday. Photo by Evelyn Hochstein/Reuters
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip welcomed President Biden's support for the proposal aimed at ending the war in Gaza, but some are skeptical that it will be implemented anytime soon, and at least one man, a lecturer at a Palestinian university in the Gaza Strip, expressed a concern on many people's minds: “Who will govern the Gaza Strip from now on?”
Hamas, which led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and ruled Gaza before the war, responded favorably to Biden's speech in a statement on social media. It said it was ready to respond “constructively” to any ceasefire proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians and a “full-scale prisoner exchange.”
The proposal outlined by President Biden is in three stages: the first phase would include a six-week ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza, and the release of elderly and female hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
In the first phase, Israel and Hamas will continue negotiations to reach a permanent ceasefire and begin the second phase, which aims to end the war. If the talks take longer than six weeks, Biden said the first ceasefire would continue until an agreement is reached. The third phase would involve starting work on the enormous task of rebuilding Gaza.
Rami Shurafi, a lecturer at Palestine University, said it was unclear who would represent the Gaza Strip's residents in phases two and three of the agreement. The United States has previously said the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, should be brought into governance of Gaza, but it was not clear whether that was still the U.S. position.
“Who will sign this agreement – Hamas, the Palestinian Authority or the Palestinian people?” Shurafi asked.
He added that Israel has made it clear that it does not want Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to rule the Gaza Strip once the conflict ends.
Shurafi sees the proposal as part of an ongoing effort to keep the Palestinian territories separate and undermine the prospects for a future Palestinian state.
“Without Palestinian unity and a plan for a Palestinian state, destructive attempts on Palestinian existence will continue,” he said, “and Gaza will remain separated from the West Bank, and the division between the Palestinian Authority and those who administer Gaza will continue.”
Al-Qassem Said, a lawyer and researcher at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, said Biden's stand was a victory because it reflected “the resistance of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip” and a capitulation by “the leader of a country like the United States, which is seen as the world's policeman.”
Others, like Rania Al Khodary, who helped promote local businesses on social media, were simply happy to see the US talking about ending Israel's war in Gaza. She expressed the fatigue and frustration felt by many on social media: “If Hamas agrees to Biden's proposal and Israel accepts, the war will end in a penalty shootout or an offside goal. Let's just end it.”
— Raja Abdulrahim and Ameera Halda
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