The Biden administration said Tuesday it was assessing Hamas’ response to a proposed temporary ceasefire to halt fighting with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The response came a day after the UN Security Council passed a US-drafted resolution setting out three stages of a temporary ceasefire agreement charting a path towards a permanent end to hostilities.
“We have received the response that Hamas sent to Qatar and Egypt, and we are currently evaluating it,” national security and communications adviser John Kirby said in a conference call with reporters.
Hamas’s main decision-maker is believed to be the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, who is holed up in Gaza and has signalled his rejection of previous cease-fire proposals after a week-long cease-fire collapsed in early November.
The Wall Street JournalreportSinwar said on Monday, in a message to Hamas leadership outside the Gaza Strip, that he indicated that ongoing fighting with Israel, resulting in further destruction in the Gaza Strip and the deaths of Palestinian civilians, was helping the group achieve its objectives.
“It should come as a shock to no one that Sinwar has zero regard for the lives of innocent Palestinians caught up in this war,” Kirby said in response to a question about the Wall Street Journal report.
“Without reviewing the details of the reports, I would say that, generally speaking, the atrocities that this man commits and the way he has demonstrated his ability and capability since he began to seek to advance his own agenda at the expense of innocent Palestinian lives in Gaza has not been unusual.”
Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday that its response, conveyed through Egypt and Qatar, “prioritizes the interests of the Palestinian people, the need for a complete halt to the ongoing attacks on Gaza, and withdrawal.” [of the occupation forces] “From the entire Gaza Strip,” he said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“The Palestinian delegation, out of a sense of national responsibility, expressed its willingness to work positively to reach an agreement that would end this war against our people,” the statement continued.
The ceasefire proposal was announced by President Biden on May 31. It is said to have been Israeli in origin, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given vague assurances about Israel’s commitment to the proposal. Israeli officials have warned that they will not unilaterally agree to the proposal unless Hamas is committed to the agreement.
But U.S. officials say Israel is open to the proposal and that if Hamas agrees to the first phase of the deal, a six-week ceasefire would be put into place immediately.
“Israel has already agreed to this agreement and if Hamas does the same, the fighting could stop today. I repeat, the fighting could stop today,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the Security Council vote.
The six-week ceasefire is part of the so-called first phase, which calls on Hamas to release all hostages, including women, elderly and wounded, and to return the bodies of those killed. Israel says Hamas is holding 120 hostages, several of whom are dead.
In exchange for the hostages, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and withdraw its troops from densely populated areas of Gaza. Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to their homes and neighborhoods “throughout Gaza, including the north.” The ceasefire would also allow for a surge in humanitarian aid.
During the six-week ceasefire, negotiators will move to the second phase of their proposals, working to establish a “permanent cessation of hostilities” and include the full release of all hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Hamas has previously said it could not agree to such a proposal unless Israel committed to a permanent halt to the fighting and a complete withdrawal from Palestinian territories.
Hamas’ statement on the agreement came after the designated terrorist organization released a statement on Monday welcoming the passage of the UN Security Council resolution.
Asked by The Hill what Hamas’ next steps were after welcoming the resolution, Hamas’s head of political and international relations, Bassem Naim, said the group was “waiting for Israel to negotiate the details.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is visiting the Middle East to shore up support for the ceasefire proposal, called Hamas’ response to the UN resolution “a hopeful sign but not definitive” because it did not come from Yahya Sinwar, the militant group’s leader in Gaza.
“What is decisive, or at least what has been decisive in some ways so far, is the word coming from Gaza and the Hamas leadership in Gaza.”
