US government ‘fully expects’ Israel to accept ceasefire proposal that would begin with six-week cessation of hostilities in Gaza if Hamas accepts deal, spokesperson says of the National Security Council, John Kirby.
The three-pronged plan unveiled by President Joe Biden last week would also consist of a “surge” of humanitarian aid, as well as an exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners before a final end to the war.
This proposal, however, encountered strong opposition from some members of the Israeli government.
The negotiations come as fighting continues in Rafah, which was the subject of intense Israeli airstrikes over the weekend.
According to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, its 36 shelters in the Rafah region are empty after residents were forced to flee.
An additional 1.7 million people are estimated to be displaced in Khan Younis and parts of central Gaza.
Speaking to ABC News on Sunday morning, Mr Kirby said the United States “fully expected” that Israel would “say yes” to the proposed ceasefire deal if Hamas accepted it.
“We are waiting for an official response from Hamas,” he said, adding that the United States hopes the two sides will agree to launch the first phase of the plan “as soon as possible.”
During this first six-week break in fighting, Mr. Kirby said “both sides would sit down and try to negotiate what phase two might look like and when it might begin.”
In a televised speech last week, Mr. Biden said the second phase of the plan would see the return of all hostages still alive, including male soldiers. The ceasefire would then become “the definitive cessation of hostilities”.
However, on Saturday, two far-right Israeli ministers threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the deal.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they were opposed to reaching a deal before Hamas was destroyed.
Likewise, Mr. Netanyahu insisted that there will be no ceasefire until Hamas’s military and government capabilities are destroyed and all hostages are released.
Mr. Kirby, for his part, said that American intelligence now believes that Hamas has been militarily degraded to the point that it can no longer repeat an attack such as the one carried out by its fighters on October 7.
“We didn’t say they don’t still pose a viable threat to the Israeli people. Of course they do,” he said. “But they don’t have the military capabilities to do what they did.”
In another development on Sunday, the Maldives government announced it would bar Israeli citizens from accessing the Indian Ocean island archipelago, prompting a warning from the Israeli Foreign Ministry that its citizens should avoid the country .
Around 11,000 Israelis visited the Maldives last year, less than 1% of all tourist arrivals.
More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began in October when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages back to Gaza.
In the United States, President Biden is facing growing domestic criticism over the level of American support for Israel, as well as calls to do more to encourage the warring sides to negotiate.
