U.S. presses Hamas to accept deal that Netanyahu calls a ‘total lie’ as Hamas welcomes UNSC resolution
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Arab leaders to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal outlined ten days ago by U.S. President Joe Biden to end the eight month-long war in Gaza.
Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, triggering the bloodiest episode in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The trip comes as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal with Israel and ensure the war does not expand into Lebanon.
Blinken said Hamas was the only outlier in not accepting the proposal for a three-phase deal involving the release of hostages and talks toward an end to fighting, to which he said Israel had agreed.
Hamas said in May it had agreed to a deal for a ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoners swap, but an Israeli official said at the time the deal was not acceptable to Israel because terms had been “softened.”
“My message to governments throughout the region, to people throughout the region, is if you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say yes,” Blinken told reporters before departing Egypt, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. [Continue reading…]
Hamas welcomed on Monday a U.N. Security Council resolution backing a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it is ready to cooperate with mediators over implementing the principles of the plan.
“Hamas welcomes what is included in the Security Council resolution that affirmed the permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the complete withdrawal, the prisoners’ exchange, the reconstruction, the return of the displaced to their areas of residence, the rejection of any demographic change or reduction in the area of the Gaza Strip, and the delivery of needed aid to our people in the Strip,” the militant group said in a statement.
Hamas also said it was willing to engage in indirect negotiations over implementing the principles “that are consistent with the demands of our people and resistance.” [Continue reading…]
Israel’s proposed hostage and ceasefire deal with Hamas includes a commitment to end the war in Gaza even before all hostages are released, according to a news report on Monday, which said it had obtained the document.
Channel 12 published extensive details of what it said was Israel’s May 27 proposal, without citing sources or saying how it obtained it.
Contrary to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted, the reported four-page document apparently does not include the elimination of Hamas as a governing force in Gaza, and does include an Israeli commitment to end the war even before all the hostages are released.
Immediately following the broadcast, Netanyahu’s office called it misleading and said the claim Israel had agreed to end the war before achieving its goals was “a total lie.” [Continue reading…]