Iraq welcomes Biden's Gaza cease-fire plan

ISTANBUL

Iraq welcomed on Sunday a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap proposal laid out by US President Joe Biden.

“We call for an end to the Israeli aggression, and urge the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and halt the severe violations of international law, international humanitarian law, and human rights,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It also called on the Palestinians “to engage constructively with the proposed initiatives to safeguard their rights and legitimate aspirations.”

On Friday, Biden said Israel presented a 3-phase deal that would end hostilities in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave.

Biden called on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas to accept the proposal and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resist pressure from members of his governing coalition to reject the plan.

Netanyahu's office reiterated Friday his intention to continue his deadly offensive in Gaza until all of Tel Aviv's war goals are achieved.

Hamas, for its part, said it will "respond positively to any proposal that includes a permanent cease-fire, a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction efforts, the return of the displaced, and the completion of a comprehensive hostage exchange deal."

More than 36,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since last Oct. 7 following a Hamas attack. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi