Servet Günerigök
21 May 2021•Update: 21 May 2021
WASHINGTON
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed him that Israel agreed to a "mutual, unconditional ceasefire to begin in less than two hours."
His remarks came hours after Tel Aviv and Palestinian resistance groups agreed to a truce, which, according to Hamas and Israeli sources, will take effect at 2 a.m. Friday (2300GMT Thursday).
The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire comes after more than 10 days of Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
"The Egyptians have now informed us that Hamas and the other groups in Gaza have also agreed," said Biden.
The president said he spoke with Netanyahu six times, as well as with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority as part of his intense diplomatic engagement.
Biden also said the US remains committed to working with the UN and other international stakeholders to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and international support for Gazans and Gaza reconstruction efforts.
"I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy," he added.
At least 232 Palestinians have been killed, including 65 children and 39 women, and more than 1,700 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Health centers, media offices and residential neighborhoods have been targeted.
Recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In 1980 it annexed the entire city, a move never recognized by the international community.
