The US is studying Hamas’ response to a ceasefire proposal and will discuss it with allies in the Middle East in the coming hours, the state department said on Monday.
An Israeli official said no ceasefire agreement had been reached despite the Palestinian militant group Hamas saying on Monday it had accepted a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators after weeks of stop-start talks on a deal for a temporary pause in fighting and the release of hostages to Israel.
“This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal,” the Israeli official said.
“I can confirm that Hamas has issued a response. We are reviewing that response now and discussing it with our partners in the region,” US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday afternoon, confirming that a response was received in the past hour or 90 minutes and that discussions would take place in the coming hours.
CIA director Bill Burns is in the region “working on this in real time”, Miller said.
The Hamas announcement came hours after Israel ordered the evacuation of parts of Rafah, the city on Gaza’s southern edge that has served as the last sanctuary for about half of Gaza’s 2.3-million residents.
That appeared to signal that an operation on Rafah will go ahead, despite Washington’s repeated warnings, including by US secretary of state Antony Blinken on a visit to Israel last week, where he also focused on increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Miller reiterated that the US could not support an operation in Rafah “as it is currently envisioned” by Israel.
“A Rafah operation would make it incredibly difficult to sustain the increases in humanitarian assistance that we have been able to deliver over the past few weeks,” Miller said.
White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters late on Monday: “We want to get these hostages out, we want to get a ceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increase humanitarian assistance.” Reaching an agreement would be the “absolute best outcome”.
Kirby said US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for about 30 minutes about Rafah and the hostage and ceasefire proposal, before the Hamas response was received. He described it as a constructive discussion.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he welcomed the decision by Hamas, adding it was in line with Ankara’s suggestion and he hoped Israel would do the same.
Reuters
Hamas accepts ceasefire proposal
Israeli official says no ceasefire agreement has been reached
The US is studying Hamas’ response to a ceasefire proposal and will discuss it with allies in the Middle East in the coming hours, the state department said on Monday.
An Israeli official said no ceasefire agreement had been reached despite the Palestinian militant group Hamas saying on Monday it had accepted a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators after weeks of stop-start talks on a deal for a temporary pause in fighting and the release of hostages to Israel.
“This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal,” the Israeli official said.
“I can confirm that Hamas has issued a response. We are reviewing that response now and discussing it with our partners in the region,” US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday afternoon, confirming that a response was received in the past hour or 90 minutes and that discussions would take place in the coming hours.
CIA director Bill Burns is in the region “working on this in real time”, Miller said.
The Hamas announcement came hours after Israel ordered the evacuation of parts of Rafah, the city on Gaza’s southern edge that has served as the last sanctuary for about half of Gaza’s 2.3-million residents.
That appeared to signal that an operation on Rafah will go ahead, despite Washington’s repeated warnings, including by US secretary of state Antony Blinken on a visit to Israel last week, where he also focused on increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Miller reiterated that the US could not support an operation in Rafah “as it is currently envisioned” by Israel.
“A Rafah operation would make it incredibly difficult to sustain the increases in humanitarian assistance that we have been able to deliver over the past few weeks,” Miller said.
White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters late on Monday: “We want to get these hostages out, we want to get a ceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increase humanitarian assistance.” Reaching an agreement would be the “absolute best outcome”.
Kirby said US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for about 30 minutes about Rafah and the hostage and ceasefire proposal, before the Hamas response was received. He described it as a constructive discussion.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he welcomed the decision by Hamas, adding it was in line with Ankara’s suggestion and he hoped Israel would do the same.
Reuters
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