07/07/2024 – 14:19
Hamas is awaiting a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the Palestinian group said on Sunday (7), five days after the country accepted a key part of a US plan aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza.
“We have left our response with the mediators and are waiting to hear the occupation’s response,” one of the two Hamas officials told Reuters, asking not to be identified.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold consultations on Sunday on the next steps in negotiating the three-phase plan that was unveiled in May by US President Joe Biden and is being brokered by Qatar and Egypt.
The aim is to end the war and free around 120 Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Another Palestinian official with knowledge of the cease-fire deliberations said Israel was in talks with Qatar.
“They discussed with them Hamas’ response and promised to give them Israel’s response within a few days,” the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters on Sunday.
Netanyahu said the talks would continue this week but gave no detailed timetable.
Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing a deal. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that goal during the first six-week phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.
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