HAMAS has responded to a US-backed proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and an exchange of captives for prisoners with some “remarks” on the plan, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have said.
Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they were ready to “deal positively to arrive at an agreement” and that their priority is to bring a “complete stop” to Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television channel that the group had “submitted some remarks on the proposal to the mediators”. He did not give any details.
“The Hamas response reaffirmed the group’s stance [that] 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 told Reuters news agency.
The foreign ministries of Qatar and Egypt said in a joint statement that they were examining the response and that they would continue their mediation efforts along with the United States “until an agreement is reached”.
White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby said the US had also received and was evaluating the response.
“We are working our way through the Hamas response,” Kirby told reporters.
Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reported that Hamas and PIJ leaders said the response that was delivered includes amendments.
“The amendments include a complete withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor,” Khan said, referring to the vital border crossing with Egypt.
“The Israelis want one thing … the destruction of Hamas both politically and militarily,” he said. “What this proposal suggests is that Hamas may well survive in some way, shape, or form.”
The response comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the Middle East seeking to secure agreement for the ceasefire plan and plans for post-war reconstruction and governance in Gaza.
Blinken met Israeli officials on Tuesday in a push to end the eight-month-old Israeli air and ground offensive that has devastated Gaza, a day after the US-backed proposal for a truce was approved by the United Nations Security Council.
