Biden, key European and Latin American leaders urge Hamas to accept ceasefire deal

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden and 16 other world leaders, including key European and Latin American players, on June 6 jointly urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal and for Israel to accept compromises.

“There is no time to lose. We call on Hamas to close this agreement,” said the statement issued by the White House.

The statement was signed by the leaders of key European powers Britain, France and Germany, as well as by Spain, which has infuriated Israel by recognising a Palestinian state.

More unusually, the statement brought together the ideologically divergent leaders of South America’s most populous nations – Brazil and Colombia, whose left-wing presidents have stridently denounced Israel, and Argentina, whose new libertarian leader backs Israel.

The United States has repeatedly said the onus is on Hamas to accept the deal, but the statement also called for flexibility from Israel.

“At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal and bring relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict, including the civilian populations,” it said.

“It is time for the war to end, and this deal is the necessary starting point.”

The statement comes after

Israel hit a Gaza school earlier on June 6

in an air strike that it said targeted and killed Hamas fighters inside, while a Hamas official said 40 people including women and children were killed as they sheltered at the United Nations site.

It also comes after Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns met senior officials from mediators Qatar and Egypt on June 5 in Doha to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Two Egyptian security sources said talks continued on June 6, but had shown no sign of breakthrough.

Mr Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run government media office, rejected Israel’s assertion that the UN school in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, had hidden a Hamas command post.

“The occupation uses... false fabricated stories to justify the brutal crime it conducted against dozens of displaced people,” Mr Al-Thawabta told Reuters.

Israel’s military said it had taken steps to protect civilians before its fighter jets carried out a “precise strike”, circulating satellite photos highlighting two parts of a building where it said the fighters were based.

“We are very confident in the intelligence,” military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner told a briefing with reporters, accusing Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters of deliberately using UN facilities as operational bases.

He said 20 to 30 fighters were located in the compound, and many of them had been killed, but had no precise details as intelligence assessments were being carried out.

“I am not aware of any civilian casualties, and I would be very, very cautious of accepting anything that Hamas puts out,” he said.

The school, run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, may have been hit several times, said the agency’s communications director, Ms Juliette Touma. She said she could not confirm the death toll at this stage.

Media in Hamas-run Gaza had earlier put the toll at 35 to 40. Mr Al-Thawabta and a medical source said 40 had been killed, including 14 children and nine women.

Mr Biden last week publicly announced a new plan

in which Israel would withdraw from Gaza population centres and Hamas would free hostages for an initial six weeks, with the ceasefire extended as negotiators seek a permanent end to hostilities.

He billed the plan as an Israeli offer, although it has drawn criticism from some right-wing Israeli politicians critical to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.

Mediator Qatar has submitted the plan to Hamas for review.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also been pushing the plan through phone calls with Arab foreign ministers.

The June 6 statement was also signed by Thailand, which has a large force of workers in Israel and saw about 30 of its citizens taken hostage out of around the 250 people seized by gunmen in the Oct 7 attack.

Other countries signing the statement were Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Serbia.

The war was

sparked by Hamas’ Oct 7 attack

, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 36,654 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry. AFP, REUTERS