WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden vowed Monday to end the war in the Gaza Strip and bring the hostages back home.

"I will keep working to bring hostages home, end the war in Gaza, and bring peace and security to the Middle East," Biden said on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

"We are working around the clock…to prevent a wider war, to reunite hostages with their families, and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now. To end civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and to finally deliver a cease-fire and end this war," he added.

As the convention kicked off earlier Monday, thousands of pro-Palestine protesters gathered in Chicago to push for an end to US support for Israel's war on Gaza, where more than 40,100 Palestinians have been killed.

As delegates arrived at the convention center, protesters marched through downtown Chicago, periodically chanting slogans such as "Free, free Palestine” hours before Biden was set to address the convention.

"Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides," Biden said.

Biden also said he wrote a peace treaty for Gaza, adding: "I put forward a proposal that brought us closer to doing that than we've done since Oct. 7."

'Stop arming Israel'

Meanwhile, some audience members at the convention unfurled a banner reading: "Stop arming Israel."

When other audiences saw the banner, they began chanting: "We love Joe."

In a social media post, a man was seen trying to rip the banner away.

The US, Egypt, and Qatar announced last week following cease-fire talks in the Qatari capital Doha that they had presented Israel and Hamas with what they called a "bridging proposal" to further narrow "remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal."

On the other hand, Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday that the new proposal meets "Netanyahu's conditions and aligns with them, particularly his refusal of a permanent cease-fire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction (which separates the north and south of the Gaza Strip), the Rafah crossing, and the Philadelphi Corridor (in the south).”

The movement emphasized its commitment to what it agreed upon on July 2.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel has killed more than 40,100 Palestinians since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas. Israeli actions have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing genocide trial at the International Court of Justice.