Biden says ‘a ceasefire is not peace’ and calls on Hamas to release hostages

US president Joe Biden called on Hamas to release its hostages and surrender the individuals behind the October 7 attack on Israel as he reiterated his opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza.

In an op-ed published on Saturday in the Washington Post, the US president wrote: “If Hamas cared at all for Palestinian lives, it would release all the hostages, give up arms, and surrender the leaders and those responsible for October 7.”

His comments underscored the deep divide between Washington and its Arab allies who have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a ceasefire is not peace,” Biden wrote.

Biden also argued in the op-ed that the Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza and the West Bank after the war is over, and urged Israel’s leaders to stop what he described as “extremist violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Biden said the US was prepared to take its own steps, including issuing visa bans against those who attacked Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Biden’s latest comments came hours after his Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, told a conference in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, that “simply calling for a ceasefire” — as Arab states repeatedly have — is “not a path to peace,” adding that the onus was on Hamas to free their captives.

“The surge in humanitarian relief, the surge in fuel, the pause in fighting will come when hostages are released,” McGurk said.

“Imagine if someone took your family members and then told you to get them back you had to give them XYZ; and you are being advised to just give them XYZ anyway without any promise of your family members being released.”

His comments contrasted starkly with Arab leaders who have pressured the US to call for a ceasefire. Almost 11,500 people have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.

Senior officials from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, two of Washington’s important…