How the world is reacting to Biden's announcement of Gaza peace plan

Joe Biden announced a “comprehensive” peace deal on Friday, which would see Israel stop all of its military operations in Gaza, the return of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an international effort to rebuild the destroyed Palestinian enclave.

While Hamas has reacted positively the deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that if the condition of its goal of “the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities” is not met, the deal is a “non-starter”.

The New Arab looks at the reactions to the deal.

European Union

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commended what she described as Biden’s “realistic” ceasefire proposal for Gaza and said it should be seen as a genuine opportunity to end the conflict.

Von der Leyen, also wrote that she fully agrees with the proposal and that this plan is “an opportunity to move forward with the end of the war and the suffering of civilians in Gaza”.

"This three-step approach is balanced and realistic," she said.

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, also expressed his support for Biden’s plan.

“All our support to Biden roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of hostages leading to a permanent cessation of hostilities, withdrawal of IDF and reconstruction efforts to commence,” he posted on X.

“The war has to end now.”

Conflict mediators

Although the current main conflict mediators, namely Egypt and Qatar, have not individually responded to the deal presented by Biden, Reuters reports that they have reacted positively to the deal.

However, both parties have previously been left with frustrated after Israel rejected an almost identical Hamas-accepted peace deal last month and pressed ahead with a brutal assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

United Nations

The UN has been more circumspect in its approach to Biden’s announcement, with Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary General of the UN, saying: “The Secretary General very much hopes that this will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace.”

UK

On Saturday, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron urged Hamas to accept the deal.

Cameron, in a video on X, emphasised the importance of seizing the opportunity to secure the release of hostages and flood Gaza with much-needed humanitarian aid.

“Seize this opportunity to stop the killing and bring this conflict to an end.”

Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Israeli proposal to end the conflict in Gaza ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LAKe6c8xoL

— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) June 1, 2024

"This is an important moment, and one that we should seize to bring this conflict to an end, not just now, but permanently," he said.

"The first thing that needs to happen is that Hamas need to accept this deal. What that would mean is the hostages would be freed and Gaza could be flooded with aid, something we've longed called for," he added.

Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners

In posts on social media platform X, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said his party would “dissolve the government” while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would “not be part of a government that will agree to the proposed outline”.

Israeli opposition

Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid on Saturday urged Netanyahu to heed Biden's call for a Gaza truce under which Hamas would free hostages, and offered to support the government should far-right coalition partners bolt.

"The government of Israel cannot ignore President Biden's consequential speech. There is a deal on the table and it should made," Lapid said in an X post.

"I remind Netanyahu that he has a safety net from us for a hostage-release deal if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich leave the government.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s main electoral rival and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has not commented on Biden’s announcement, with White House allegedly “disappointed” by his reaction to the proposal.

Israeli captive families and public

Family members of Israeli captives held in Gaza have called on their country’s government to accept the ceasefire plan, calling on Netanyahu to publicly support the proposal.

However, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that 39% of Israelis say Israel’s military response against Hamas in Gaza has been about right, while 34% say it has not gone far enough. Only 19% believe it has gone too far, which means that support for the war remains high among the public. 

Palestinians in Gaza

So far, there has been no reported responses from Palestinian civilians bearing the brunt of Israel's war on Gaza. However, while we know Hamas has reacted positively to the deal, the other main faction based in Gaza, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), have been much more cautious. 

PIJ have said they will evaluate any proposal that brings peace, but that they are suspicious of the US due to its biases towards Israel and the fact it continues to "participate in the aggression against our people through their continued support with weapons and means of killing and destruction."

Agencies contributed to this report