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Biden touts hostage talks that could yield 6-week cease-fire between Israel and Hamas
Washington — President Biden said Monday the U.S. is working to negotiate a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas that would pause fighting in Gaza for at least six weeks.
In White House remarks alongside King Abdullah II of Jordan, Mr. Biden said the deal “would bring an immediate and sustained period of calm to Gaza for at least six weeks, which we could then take the time to build something more enduring.”
“Over the past month I’ve had calls with Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as the leaders of Egypt and Qatar to push this forward,” Mr. Biden said. “The key elements of the deal are on the table. There are gaps that remain but I’ve encouraged Israeli leaders to keep working to achieve the deal. The United States will do everything possible to make it happen.”
Mr. Biden also said the U.S. did not know how many of the hostages being held by the terrorist group are still alive.
“The anguish that their families are enduring, week after week, month after month is unimaginable,” he said. “And it’s a top priority for the United States to bring them home.”
The president has dispatched the CIA director, William Burns, to Cairo for further hostage talks this week after Hamas provided a new set of terms to the Qatari government, CBS News reported.
King Abdullah has pushed for a cease-fire in Gaza in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. After meeting with Mr. Biden at the White House, the Jordanian leader called for a “lasting cease-fire now.”
“This war must end,” he said, also calling for immediate and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Their meeting comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in Rafah, a crowded city in southern Gaza near Egypt’s border. Israel says Rafah is Hamas’s last remaining stronghold, but more than one million displaced Palestinians are estimated to have taken refuge there after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
Mr. Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend, telling him that Israel “should not proceed” with an invasion of Rafah unless it had a “credible” plan for ensuring the safety of the people sheltering there.
Mr. Biden reiterated that in his remarks from the White House.
“Many people there have been displaced, displaced multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north, and now they’re packed into Rafah, exposed and vulnerable. They need to be protected,” Mr. Biden said. “We’ve also been clear from the start, we oppose any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.”
Abdullah condemned Israel’s military operation, saying “it is certain to produce another humanitarian catastrophe.”
“We cannot afford an Israeli attack on Rafah,” Abdullah said. “The situation is already unbearable for over a million people who have been pushed into Rafah since the war started. We cannot stand by and let this continue.”
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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