Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group’s response to the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal is consistent with the principles laid out in US President Joe Biden’s plan in a televised speech on the occasion of the Islamic festival Eid al Adha, this Sunday (16).
“Hamas and the groups [palestinos] are ready for a comprehensive agreement that entails a ceasefire, withdrawal from the strip, reconstruction of what was destroyed and a comprehensive exchange agreement,” Haniyeh said, referring to the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
On May 31, Biden presented what he called a “three-phase” Israeli proposal that would include negotiations for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as phased exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Egypt and Qatar, which together with the United States have been mediating between Hamas and Israel, said on June 11 that they had received a response from Palestinian groups to the US plan, without giving further details.
Although Israel said Hamas rejected key elements of the U.S. plan, a senior Hamas leader told Reuters that the changes requested by the group were “not significant.”
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha, editing by Tomasz Janowski and Kirsten Donovan)
Agreement
Hamas says it welcomed the ceasefire proposal, but with a number of reservations, and insists that any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, a demand that Israel still rejects.
Sullivan said U.S. officials closely reviewed Hamas’ response.
“We believe that some of the proposed issues are not unexpected and can be managed. Some of them are inconsistent with both what President Biden has laid out and what the UN Security Council has endorsed. And we are having to deal with this reality,” he said.
Sullivan also stated that US officials believe there is still a path to an agreement and that the next step will be for Qatari and Egyptian mediators to talk to Hamas and “analyze what can and cannot really be worked on.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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