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One day after the United Nations Security Council approved After a proposed ceasefire in Gaza backed by the United States, the world is waiting for a response from the Hamas leader, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Tuesday.
Putting the blame squarely on Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, Mr. Blinken, speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, asked whether the group would act in the best interests of the Palestinian people by accepting the deal. At least, he said, that would end the fighting and allow more humanitarian aid to arrive in Gaza.
Alternatively, he added, Hamas could “take care of just one guy,” Mr. Sinwar, hiding underground in Gaza, “while the people it claims to represent continue to suffer under the crossfire of his own creation.”
Although President Biden described the U.S.-backed ceasefire plan as initially proposed by Israel last month, Israeli officials have not publicly endorsed it, and they have not said ‘They would respect the agreement if Hamas accepted it.
After meeting with senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday, “I think there is, again, a strong consensus to move the proposal forward,” Blinken said.
“But at this point it really depends on one person,” he added, referring to Mr Sinwar.
Mr. Blinken said he had received explicit assurances from Mr. Netanyahu that he would continue to support the proposal, despite doubts the Israeli leader sowed last week when he called the idea a ceasefire -negotiated permanent fire – which Hamas described as essential – of “it won’t start. » The UN resolution
Asked how this difference could be reconciled, Blinken stressed the importance of reaching an immediate ceasefire in the first phase of the proposed three-phase deal. “The commitment in accepting the proposal is to seek a lasting ceasefire,” he said. “But this must be negotiated.”
Along with the immediate ceasefire, the first phase of the agreement provides for the release of all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the detention of a greater number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes and the full right of release. withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
The second phase calls for a permanent ceasefire with the agreement of both parties. The third phase would consist of a multi-year plan for the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the remains of deceased hostages.
Mr. Blinken spoke on the terrace of a seaside hotel in Tel Aviv under the eyes of several relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, whom he had just met briefly. Many held signs with photos of their loved ones reading “Bring Them Home.”
On the second day of his eighth visit to the Middle East since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, Blinken called Monday’s unanimous Security Council vote a sign that Hamas will be isolated if it does not does not accept the proposed agreement. , which President Biden endorsed in a speech on May 31.
“The United Nations Security Council, speaking on behalf of the entire international community, has made it as clear as possible that this is what the world is seeking,” Blinken said.
In a statement Monday, Hamas said it “welcomes what is included in the Security Council resolution which affirms the permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the complete withdrawal, the exchange of prisoners, the reconstruction, the return of displaced people to their areas of origin. residence, rejection of any demographic change or reduction of the area of the Gaza Strip and the provision of necessary aid to our population in the Strip.
Mr. Blinken called the statement “a sign of hope.” But he added that what matters “is the word of the Hamas leaders in Gaza,” namely Mr. Sinwar.
Mr. Blinken spoke to reporters before leaving for Amman, Jordan, where he was to attend a conference on humanitarian aid to Gaza. He also met Tuesday morning with the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, as well as with Benny Gantzwho withdrew his centrist party from Israel’s wartime emergency government on Sunday to protest Mr. Netanyahu’s handling of the war.
