Haaretz reported that world leaders urged Hamas to accept a peace proposal:

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement alongside the leaders of 17 other countries – all with citizens held captive in Gaza – calling upon Hamas to release the hostages in order to bring an immediate and prolonged cease-fire.

“We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas, now for over 200 days. They include our citizens. The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern,” the leaders said in the statement.

“We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged cease-fire in Gaza that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza and lead to the credible end of hostilities,” the leaders continue.

The leaders say “Gazans would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions,” noting “we strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts in order to bring our people home. We reiterate our call on Hamas to release the hostages.”

“Let us end this crisis so that collectively we can focus our efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region,” they conclude. 

Beyond Biden, the leaders include heads of state from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand and the U.K.

The Hostages Families Forum welcomed the statement from the world leaders, and expressed their gratitude to them for “putting the issue of the hostages as a top international priority.”

They called the statement a result of “diplomatic efforts carried out by the families of the hostages over recent months, alongside cooperation from decision-makers worldwide, aimed at bringing home all the hostages, the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial.”

A senior U.S. official noted the collection of leaders on the statement is “quite extraordinary,” noting a previous similar effort failed given some disagreements. This statement, however, earned widespread support given the current situation on the ground and the fact that a deal remains on the table that would bring an immediate cease-fire with the release of women, wounded, elderly and sick hostages.

“The key, really, is hostages,” the senior official said, acknowledging the recent proof-of-life video of U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, which the Biden administration received 48 hours prior to its publication.

“This is a daily, hourly focus of ours. That is no exaggeration,” the official said, further detailing Biden’s hour-plus meeting with released four-year-old hostage Avigail Mor Idan and her family. “She played in the Oval Office, as a four- year-old does,” the official said.

“Until she was out of Gaza, we were not 100 percent confident she would ever get out of Gaza, so it always has the feeling of this might never come together,” the official acknowledged.

The senior U.S. official rejected allegations that Israel is the main obstacle to securing a deal, placing the onus squarely on Hamas. “There have been times in which the Israelis, for one reason or another, did not want to put whatever issue might be on the table. If I was answering your question six weeks ago, I might have a different answer,” the official acknowledged.

Hamas reiterated on Thursday its demand Israel end the Gaza war as part of any deal to release hostages held there, with Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, telling Reuters that U.S. pressure on Hamas “has no value”.

Since Biden’s last conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, immediately after the Iran attack, the U.S. believed the latest proposed deal was “extremely forward leaning” and Israel had fully agreed to a proposal that “had all indications would lead to as close you can get to a breakthrough.”

Hamas responded with what the senior official deemed “not a constructive response at all,” adding, “the core truth is there’s a deal on the table. It meets nearly all the demands that Hamas has had,” calling it “the road map to the end of the crisis.”

“This negotiation has a structure, has a detailed document, has the elements of the deal that are all there. It’s really down to one guy to accept the deal,” the official said.