US President Joe Biden speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden said that reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between the Palestinian resistance and Israel during the month of Ramadan seems difficult, revealing his frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On the other hand, Biden said that Israel will secure the temporary port to provide aid to Gaza.
In response to journalists' questions about whether he was frustrated with Netanyahu regarding aid, Biden replied, "Yes."
Biden also expressed "deep" concern about the violence that could erupt in occupied East Jerusalem during Ramadan.
On Thursday, Biden announced during his State of the Union address that he had issued instructions to the US Army to establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast, adding that more humanitarian aid would enter Gaza by sea through the port without American soldiers setting foot on the territory of the Strip.
A spokesman for the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said that the port will contribute to providing more than two million meals a day to the residents of the besieged Strip, indicating that Washington continues to coordinate with partner countries (which he did not name) regarding the port, including Israel, which will be responsible for the security aspect. Without mentioning more details.
No tangible results
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt are working to reach a truce agreement in Gaza before the month of Ramadan, but the negotiations that took place this week in Cairo did not lead to any tangible results.
Al Jazeera sources reported that the Cairo negotiations ended without reaching an agreement, and that the mediators between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel tried to bridge the gap between the two parties, but their efforts did not succeed.
The sources said that Israel rejected Hamas's request for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, and the return of the displaced without conditions.
For his part, Abu Ubaida - spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) - called in a statement on “our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the 1948 to mobilize towards Al-Aqsa Mosque” during the month of Ramadan, and “not to allow the occupation to change the reality on the ground.” He said, "We welcome Ramadan with jihad and bond in a time when men are proud."
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies