'Time to end' Gaza war, Biden says

US President expresses cautious criticism about Israel's conduct in the conflict

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US President Joe Biden has said it is “time to end” the Gaza war and that he had told Israel not to occupy the Palestinian enclave after the conflict concludes.

Speaking at a highly anticipated press conference late on Thursday aimed at reassuring the Democratic Party about his mental acuity and physical health, Mr Biden said his ceasefire framework had been agreed on by both Israel and Hamas but there were still gaps to close.

He added that he has “sent my team to the region to hammer out the details”.

“These are difficult, complex issues. There are still gaps to close. We're making progress. The trend is positive, and I'm determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war, which should end now.”

Mr Biden in late May detailed a three-phase proposal aimed at achieving a ceasefire, the release of hostages in Gaza and Palestinian detainees held by Israel, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, and the rebuilding of the coastal enclave.

The President's support for Israel since October 7 has infuriated millions of voters who skew Democrat, including Arab Americans and progressives.

The Biden administration has also faced international criticism for its continued support of Israel in the face of growing civilian casualties in Gaza.

Underscoring the stakes of a ceasefire, sources told The National on Thursday that Yemen's Houthi rebels and Iraqi militias have informed their ally Hamas they will cease attacks on Israeli targets if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.

Mr Biden said it is “time to end this war” but stressed that did not mean Israel needed to “walk away from going after” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the militant group.

The President also said he had told Israel to learn from America’s protracted time in Afghanistan that occupying Gaza would not work.

“Once we got [Osama] bin Laden, we should have moved on,” he said.

Mr Biden expressed disappointment that his plan to funnel food aid into Gaza via a temporary pier had not been more successful, after the Pentagon said the facility would cease operations soon.

He partly blamed Israel for not being more helpful.

“I met with most of the Arab leaders to try to get a consensus going as to what had to be done to deal with getting more aid and food and medicine into the Gaza Strip. And we pushed it really hard, and Israel occasionally was less than co-operative,” Mr Biden said.

“There's a lot of things, in retrospect, I wish I'd had been able to convince Israelis to do.”