
US President Joe Biden urged G20 leaders on Monday to intensify efforts to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a ceasefire with Israel.
As he nears the end of his presidency, Biden pledged to "keep pushing" for an agreement before Donald Trump assumes office.
"I ask everyone here to increase their pressure on Hamas, which is currently refusing this deal," Biden said during his opening address at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, as quoted by the AFP news agency.
The outgoing president reiterated his calls for Israel to minimize civilian casualties in its ongoing conflict in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas' brutal attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
"Israel has a right to defend itself after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. But how it defends itself... matters a great deal," Biden emphasized at what will be his final G20 appearance.
"We're going to keep pushing to accelerate a ceasefire deal that ensures Israel's security and brings hostages home and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and children," he added.
Israel and Hamas have held several rounds of indirect negotiations, with the US, Egypt and Qatar serving as mediators, in an attempt to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and for Hamas to free the hostages it has been holding since the October 7 massacre.
The United States had been pushing an outline for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that Biden first laid out in May, but Hamas rejected that proposal and every other proposal that has been presented to it.
Recently, Egypt publicly proposed a two-day ceasefire deal in which four Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for terrorist prisoners held in Israel and in the ten days following, negotiations would be held regarding a more extensive deal.
Hamas initially said it does not support a limited timeframe of several days in which the organization would return some of the hostages and afterwards the fighting would continue. Later, sources in Hamas told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the terrorist organization is willing to consider Egypt’s proposal as well as other proposals.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made clear last week, during an appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation, that Hamas was at fault for the failure of the negotiations and not Israel.