Negotiation is the only way forward to end the war in Gaza

President Joe Biden argued with unusual clarity on Friday that the Israeli government should seek peace. “Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory will only bog down Israel in Gaza,” he said. It would have the effect of “furthering Israel’s isolation in the world. That will not bring hostages home. That will not bring an enduring defeat of Hamas, that will not bring Israel lasting security.”

These are not new arguments. The Independent has been making them almost from the start of the Israeli response to the atrocities carried out by Hamas on 7 October. But it is significant that the president of the United States should be making them now.

Just as it is significant that President Biden, rather than Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, should be promoting a peace plan that has been proposed by Israeli negotiators.