The movement said in a statement, “While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken continues to talk about Israel’s approval of the latest proposal (for a ceasefire), we have not heard any Israeli official speak with this approval,” adding, “We call on Blinken, and the administration of President Biden, to direct pressure” on Israel.
Hamas added that it responded positively and responsibly to US President Joe Biden’s proposal for a ceasefire and the release of detainees, and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately standing against stopping the war.
On Tuesday evening, Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating attempts to end the current war that has killed more than 37,000 people and injured more than 85,000, said that they had received Hamas’ response to Biden’s proposal.
In a joint press conference by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and his American counterpart, in Doha on Wednesday, Blinken said that Hamas is responsible for the failure to stop the war.
However, Hamas considered the American minister’s speech “an attempt to exonerate Israel and hold it responsible for obstructing a ceasefire in Gaza.”
The Palestinian movement said: “We dealt positively and responsibly with the latest proposal and all proposals to reach a ceasefire and release the detainees.”
She added: “Blinken continues to talk about Israel’s approval of the latest ceasefire proposal, but we have not heard clear Israeli approval.”
Hamas referred to American policies as giving Israel the opportunity to complete what it described as a crime “under full American political and military cover.”
She added: “Blinken must direct pressure on Israel, which is determined to complete the mission of killing and extermination.”
The proposal
In its first phase, the proposal stipulates a six-week ceasefire accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from populated areas in the Gaza Strip, and the release of some hostages who were held during the Hamas attack and Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
But Hamas stresses that any ceasefire agreement must guarantee a permanent end to the war, a condition that Israel has strongly rejected.
After issuing two resolutions that focused mainly on humanitarian aid, he finally called at the end of March for an “immediate ceasefire” throughout the month of Ramadan, while the United States abstained from voting on that resolution.
The war broke out on October 7, with Hamas launching an unprecedented attack on Israel that left 1,194 people dead, the majority of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli data.
During this attack, 251 hostages were taken, 116 of whom are still in Gaza, including 41 who the army says have died.
Israel responded with a violent campaign of bombing, raids and ground attacks that have so far killed more than 37,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
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