BEIRUT (AP) — Hamas said Tuesday it had submitted a response to a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza to mediators, asking them to make “modifications” to the agreement. The response fell short of the full acceptance the U.S. has sought, but protracted negotiations have dragged on. Eight-month war with no end in sight.
The Qatari and Egyptian foreign ministries Mediator alongside the United States — confirmed that it had received a response from Hamas and said that intermediaries were considering it.
“We have received the response that Hamas sent to Qatar and Egypt and are currently evaluating it,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the response included “amendments confirming the ceasefire, withdrawal, reconstruction and (prisoner) exchanges.” Taha did not provide details.
But while Hamas officials support the broad outlines of the agreement, they are wary of whether Israel will implement its terms, particularly its complete withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for a final and permanent end to the fighting and the release of all hostages held by militants.
The United States has said Israel has accepted the proposal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent conflicting signals that Israel will not stop until its goal of destroying Hamas is achieved.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the region this week in an attempt to secure a deal. Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7 sparked Israeli military action in Gaza.On Tuesday, he continued to press Hamas to accept the proposal, The UN Security Council voted in favor He made it “as clear as possible” that the world supports the plan.
“Everyone’s vote was out except Hamas,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv after meeting with Israeli officials hours before Hamas released its response. He said Netanyahu had reaffirmed his commitment to the proposal when they spoke later on Monday.
In a joint statement announcing they had submitted their response to Qatar and Egypt, Hamas and smaller Islamic Jihad militias said they were ready to “negotiate positively to reach an agreement” and that a “complete halt” to the fighting was their top priority. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV that the group had “submitted its views on the proposal to the mediators,” without providing further details.
The proposal raises hopes of an end to eight months of conflict in which Israeli bombardment of Gaza and ground attacks have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians and forced about 80 percent of the population of 2.3 million from their homes, according to Palestinian health officials. Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hampered humanitarian efforts to reach the isolated coastal region. Foster widespread hunger.
Israel launched the operation vowing to remove Hamas after it and other militants invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. During a week-long ceasefire last year, more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians who had been imprisoned in Israel.
Later in the day, Blinken attended the Gaza Support Conference in Jordan where he announced more than $400 million in additional assistance to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas, bringing total U.S. assistance over the past eight months to more than $674 million.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the meeting that the amount of aid coming into the U.N. in Gaza for distribution has plummeted by two-thirds since Israel launched its offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in early May.
Guterres said the “speed and scale of carnage and killing in Gaza” was unlike anything he had seen since becoming UN secretary-general in 2017, and called for all border crossings to be opened.
In a separate move, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israeli forces and Palestinian militants May have committed war crimes At least 274 Palestinians were killed during a deadly Israeli raid over the weekend that rescued four hostages. Died during the operationAccording to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Blinken, who was in Cairo on Monday, is also due to visit Qatar, where talks are likely to focus on next steps towards a deal.
The UN Security Council overwhelmingly approved the proposal on Monday, with 14 of 15 countries voting in favour and Russia abstaining. The resolution calls on Israel and Hamas to “fully implement its provisions without delay and without conditions.”
The proposal, announced by President Joe Biden last month, calls for an initial six-week ceasefire and a three-phase plan that begins with the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas and Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to their homes. Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The first phase also calls for the safe distribution of humanitarian aid “at scale across the Gaza Strip,” which Biden said would allow 600 trucks to enter the Strip each day.
At the same time, negotiations on the second phase are also due to begin, which aims to “permanently end hostilities in exchange for the release of all other hostages remaining in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”
The third phase will see the start of “a large-scale, multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of hostages remaining in Gaza to their families.”
The militant group accepted a similar offer last month, but it was rejected by Israel.
Biden presented it as an Israeli proposal, but Netanyahu publicly disputed key aspects of it and said Biden had left them out. The conflicting signals Reflects Netanyahu’s political dilemmaAllies in the far-right coalition reject the proposal and have threatened to topple the government if the war ends without destroying Hamas.
A lasting ceasefire and Israeli troops withdrawing from Gaza would likely enable Hamas to maintain control over the area and rebuild its military power.
But Netanyahu is also under increasing pressure to accept a deal to return the hostages, with thousands of Israelis, including hostage families, demonstrating in support of the U.S.-backed plan.
Moving from phase one to phase two appears to be a challenge, as Hamas wants guarantees that Israel will not restart the war, and Israel wants assurances that the second phase of negotiations will not drag on and result in the ceasefire being extended indefinitely while still holding hostages.
Blinken said the proposal would result in an immediate ceasefire and commit the parties to negotiating a permanent ceasefire. “The immediate ceasefire would continue, which is obviously good for everybody. After that we’ll have to wait and see,” Blinken said.
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Sewell reported from Beirut.
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