Why Hamas cannot accept Israel's ceasefire proposal
David Hearst | Contrary to Biden's portrayal of the deal, it does not guarantee an end to the war, nor a full withdrawal of Israeli forces | If anyone owns the daily carnage in Gaza being carried out by an angry and humiliated Israeli army, whose ranks are filled with religious settlers, it is US President Joe Biden. From the first days after the Hamas attack on 7 October, Biden framed this savage act of collective punishment on 2.3 million Palestinians as a just war. It was he who led the charge that Israel had the right to defend itself. It was he who sabotaged calls for an immediate ceasefire at the UN Security Council. It was he who replenished Israel’s stocks of smart bombs and missiles. And it is under his watch that the US turned its back on the two highest courts of international justice.