Hamas responds to Gaza ceasefire plan seeking some changes US says it is ‘evaluating’ the response

Hamas said on Tuesday it had given a response to mediators to the US-backed proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, seeking some “modifications” to the deal. It appears that the response falls short of full acceptance that the United States has pushed ahead but maintains negotiations. It is difficult to stop the eight-month war.

The foreign ministries of Qatar and Egypt – key players mediation with the United States – confirmed that it had received Hamas’ response and said mediators were studying it.

“We have received the response that Hamas sent to Qatar and Egypt, and we are evaluating it right now,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the response included “amendments confirming the ceasefire, troop withdrawal, reconstruction and (prisoner) exchange.” Taha did not elaborate.

However, while supportive of the agreement’s general outlines, Hamas officials have expressed wariness about whether Israel will carry out its terms, especially the terms of termination. permanent fighting and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages held by the rebels. .

Even as the US said Israel had accepted the proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave mixed signals, saying Israel would not stop until it achieved its goal of destroying Hamas.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region this week to try to advance the deal – his eighth visit since then. Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked Israel’s campaign in Gaza. On Tuesday, he continued to pressure Hamas to accept the proposal, saying The United Nations Security Council voted in favor has made it clear that the world supports this plan.

“Everybody voted, except one, and that was Hamas,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv after meeting with Israeli officials, hours before Hamas announced its response. He said Netanyahu reaffirmed his commitment to the proposal when they met late Monday.

In a joint statement announcing that they had sent responses to Qatar and Egypt, Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group said they were ready to “actively negotiate to reach an agreement” and that their priorities were they are to bring about “complete cessation”. to war. A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television station that the group had “sent some comments on the proposal to the mediators” without elaborating.

The proposal has raised hopes for an end to the eight-month conflict, in which Israeli bombings and ground attacks in Gaza have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials. according to Palestinian health officials, and forced about 80% of the population of 2.3 million to flee their homes. Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hampered efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the isolated coastal enclave, causing widespread famine.

Israel launched a campaign pledging to destroy Hamas after the group and other militants stormed Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. More than 100 hostages were released in a week-long ceasefire last year in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Later Tuesday, Blinken attended a Gaza aid conference in Jordan, where he announced more than $400 million in additional aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the broader region, bringing the total amount of U.S. assistance to more than 674 million USD in the past 8 months.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the meeting that the amount of aid going to the United Nations in Gaza for distribution has plummeted by two-thirds since Israel launched its offensive on the southern city of Rafah. This is in early May.

Guterres called for all border crossings to be opened, saying “the pace and scale of the massacres and killings in Gaza” far exceeded anything he had seen since taking the helm of the United Nations in year 2017.

In a separate development, the United Nations human rights office said Israeli forces and Palestinian rebels may have committed war crimes in Israel’s deadly raid to rescue four hostages over the weekend. At least 274 Palestinians was killed in the campaignaccording to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Blinken, who was in Cairo on Monday, is also expected to visit Qatar – where talks will likely focus on next steps in pushing for a deal.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposal, with 14 of its 15 members voting in favor and Russia abstaining. The resolution calls on Israel and Hamas to “fully implement their terms without delay and unconditionally.”

The proposal, announced by President Joe Biden last month, calls for a three-phase plan, starting with an initial six-week ceasefire and the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces will withdraw from populated areas and Palestinian civilians will be allowed to return to their homes. Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Phase one also requires the safe distribution of humanitarian aid “at scale throughout the Gaza Strip,” which Biden said would result in 600 aid trucks entering Gaza each day.

At the same time, negotiations will be conducted in a second phase, aimed at “a permanent cessation of hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces.” from Gaza.”

Phase three would launch “a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and return the remains of any dead hostages still in Gaza to their families.”

The militant group accepted a similar proposal last month but was rejected by Israel.

Biden presented it as an Israeli proposal, but Netanyahu publicly disputed key aspects of it, saying there were parts overlooked by Biden. Conflicting signals appear reflects Netanyahu’s political dilemma. His far-right coalition allies rejected the proposal and threatened to overthrow his government if he ended the war without destroying Hamas.

An extended ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza will likely allow Hamas to retain control of the territory and rebuild its military capabilities.

However, Mr. Netanyahu is also under increasing pressure to accept an agreement to return the hostages. Thousands of Israelis, including families of hostages, demonstrated in support of the US-backed plan.

The transition from the first to the second stage appears to be a difficult point. Hamas wants to ensure that Israel does not resume the war, and Israel wants to ensure that the extended negotiations in the second phase do not prolong the ceasefire indefinitely while leaving the hostages alone.

Blinken said the proposal would bring about an immediate ceasefire and committed the sides to long-term negotiations. “The immediate ceasefire will stay in place, which is obviously good for everyone,” Blinken said. And then we will have to see.”