WASHINGTON: A response from Palestinian group Hamas on the ceasefire proposal that US President Joe Biden unveiled on Friday is still awaited, said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We are waiting for a response from Hamas” through the Qatari mediators, Sullivan told reporters. Director CIA Bill Burns will be in Doha to have talks with Qatari mediators on the Gaza ceasefire proposal, Sullivan said. Qatar has been mediating on Gaza between Hamas and Israel.
Qatar on Tuesday said it had delivered the Israeli ceasefire proposal to Hamas that resonated with a three-phase proposal presented by President Biden, and that the paper was now much closer to the positions of both the sides.
A spokesman for Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, on Tuesday said it could not agree to any deal unless Israel makes a strong commitment to a permanent peace and complete withdrawal from Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also repeated that there can be no permanent truce unless Hamas is wiped out, as he struggles with profound political divisions at home over the US-backed peace proposal. According to the Gaza health authorities, Israel’s relentless bombardment in the besieged Palestinian enclave has killed more than 36,000 people, mostly women and children since October 7.
