WASHINGTON DC: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Hamas has proposed “numerous changes” to a cease-fire deal on the table and that some are workable, and some are not.
“Israel accepted the proposal as it was and as it is. Hamas didn’t,” said Blinken at a press conference in Doha. “In the days ahead, we are going to continue to push on an urgent basis with our partners, with Qatar, with Egypt, to try to close this deal.”
The Gulf state of Qatar, along with Egypt, has been mediating between Israel and Hamas over the proposed multi-stage cease-fire in Gaza.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters that Qatar, the United States and their partners are “committed to bridge the gap, to find a way to end the war as soon as possible.”
The Qatari prime minister also emphasized the need for a permanent and sustainable solution that would allow a Palestinian state and Israel to exist side by side.
The United States has been studying a response by Hamas to the current American-backed Gaza cease-fire proposal, according to a senior State Department official. Blinken, currently on a diplomatic tour of the region, was said to have been up late into the night with officials assessing the text, which was handed by Hamas to mediators Qatar and Egypt on Tuesday evening.
Blinken dispatched two senior administration officials to receive the document from Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
“The Hamas response reaffirmed the group’s stance any agreement must end the Zionist aggression on our people, get the Israeli forces out, reconstruct Gaza and achieve a serious prisoners swap deal,” a Hamas official said earlier this week.
U.S. President Joe Biden publicized details of the cease-fire proposal, while he and other U.S. officials repeatedly have stressed it is an Israeli proposal. Blinken said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his commitment to the deal.
(VOA)
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