WASHINGTON — Hamas responded to the US-backed cease-fire proposal for the Gaza Strip with “numerous changes,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.
“Hamas has proposed numerous changes to the proposal that was on the table,” Blinken told reporters in Doha. “Some of the changes are workable. Some are not.”
The Palestinian militant group submitted its formal response to mediators Qatar and Egypt on Tuesday, more than a week after President Joe Biden made public what he described as a three-phase Israeli plan to halt the fighting and release the hostages.
The proposed cease-fire begins with a six-week pause in the fighting and the release of women, wounded and elderly hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners and a surge in humanitarian assistance. The second and third phases call for the release of male and deceased hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Speaking in a news conference with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said the United States would seek to “bridge the gaps” between the deal accepted by Israel and the changes demanded by Hamas.
“Hamas could have answered with a single word, ‘yes,'” Blinken said. “Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes — a number of which go beyond positions that it had previously taken and accepted.”
He did not elaborate on the changes Hamas is seeking to the proposal. The militant group has said publicly it wants assurances that Israel will implement a permanent cease-fire.
“It’s taking too long to bridge these gaps,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “We need to get this to an end as soon as possible.”
