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Negotiators are pushing for a pause in the Hamas-Israel war before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan gets underway next week and U.S. officials are eager to see Hamas release hostages as part of a cease-fire agreement.
Glimmers of hope for a cessation of hostilities emerged on Saturday. A senior Biden administration official said Israel essentially endorsed a proposed framework for a cease-fire and hostage release that was awaiting Hamas’ approval.
The lingering impediment involves Hamas’ willingness to let vulnerable hostages go, according to senior Biden administration officials.
“We would have a cease-fire if Hamas addresses that final issue, that’s basically where it is,” an official said.
The vulnerable hostages designated as a top priority for release may not include any American captives, according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, Maryland Democrat.
SEE ALSO: Sen. Ben Cardin: Peace in Gaza means no future for Hamas
“We do have some understanding as to the first categories of hostages that would be released, they are called the vulnerable hostages: the children, the women, the injured,” Mr. Cardin told Fox News Sunday. “But it’s unlikely that many of, most of the Americans we believe were male soldiers and we’re not sure that they will be in the first category.”
Mr. Cardin said he wanted all hostages released and knew many world leaders were eager to help rebuild Gaza.
If a cease-fire agreement can hold, the Biden administration officials said, it would allow for a surge of humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, particularly in the war-torn northern part of the region.
Residents in northern Gaza are searching through garbage to feed their families. The World Health Organization said at least 10 children have starved to death, and many children are reportedly relying on barely one meal per day.
Approximately one in every six children under two years old in the north suffer from malnutrition amounting to “the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world,” said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, this week.
“If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza,” he said.
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U.S. military planes have started airdropping thousands of meals into Gaza and the militaries of Jordan and Egypt have said they conducted airdrops too.
Three C-130 cargo planes, assisted by Jordan, dropped 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals. Biden administration officials said the delivery occurred along the coastline to help people access the food more safely.
The U.S. has funded $180 million in humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the Biden administration said it is working with allies to develop more routes for assistance by land, air, and sea.
“Right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can,” a Biden administration official said to reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House to brief the press.
Officials in Cairo are eager to see Hamas’ answer to the call to halt fighting. An Egyptian official told the Associated Press that Hamas is expected to respond to mediators Egypt and Qatar during talks starting Sunday.
While U.S. officials wait and watch, President Biden is under mounting pressure from the political left at home over his handling of the situation in Gaza. Some Democrats want to see Mr. Biden lean harder on Israel to make concessions despite the hostages remaining in captivity.
Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said Sunday that American officials should not worry about the domestic political reaction. He said he has publicly and privately counseled Mr. Biden to use whatever leverage he has to help get a cease-fire.
“To the extent the president is using additional leverage on Israel, he should do that for national security reasons, not for political reasons,” Mr. Murphy said on ABC’s “This Week.” “These issues are too important to be dictated by the polls.”
Some Republicans think their Democratic colleagues’ actions surrounding the Hamas-Israel war are entirely wrapped up in politics.
Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday criticized Democrats’ policy toward Israel. In regards to congressional debates about foreign assistance, he told Fox News Sunday that Democrats were “holding Israel as leverage and hostage over Ukraine.”
The prospect of transforming any pause of fighting into an enduring peace is grim but Mr. Cardin said Sunday that eliminating Hamas is necessary for a lasting arrangement in Gaza.
“There is no future for Israel or the Palestinians with Hamas in Gaza,” Mr. Cardin told Fox News Sunday. “Hamas must be taken out. That is very clear for a pathway forward for the people of Gaza as well as security for Israel.”
He said a two-state solution could happen with Hamas gone and a recognition of Israel’s rights.
“The Palestinian authority needs to be revamped,” Mr. Cardin said. “You need to by actions and deeds recognize Israel, and then if there’s peace, if there’s security in the region, there will be a pathway forward for two states living side-by-side in peace.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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