DUBAI, June 3. /TASS/. Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Egypt have called on the parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to take US President Joe Biden’s Gaza ceasefire plan "seriously and positively," according to their joint statement released by the Saudi Press Agency.

They "stressed the importance of a serious and positive consideration of the US president’s proposal for an agreement guaranteeing a lasting ceasefire and envisaging the delivery of aid to all areas of the Gaza Strip so that to put an end to the suffering of the civilian population," the ministers said in a statement after their online meeting.

They also called for stopping "the aggression against the Gaza Strip," putting an end to the humanitarian catastrophe, ensuring the return of internally displaced persons to their homes, withdrawing Israeli troops from the enclave, and beginning the process of reconstruction.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden announced his three-phase Israel-Palestine ceasefire plan, with each phase lasting six weeks. The first stage envisages a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated localities in Gaza, the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons. Apart from that, the parties are supposed to begin talks during this stage, with the ceasefire staying in place until they reach accord.

Phase two provides for the release of all surviving hostages, including the military. The third stage will see the beginning of the reconstruction of the war-devastated Gaza Strip.