The United States and Israel government have classified as unacceptable the requirements made by Hamas in response to Washington’s ceasefire proposal and approved by Tel Aviv.
The plan foresees an initial truce of 60 days, during which 10 living hostages and 18 dead would be released by the Palestinian group, in exchange for 125 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and 1,111 detained since the beginning of the war.
In a publication on social network X, the US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Hamas’s response “only takes us back.”
Witkoff also said the group should accept the proposal as the basis for negotiations that could start immediately. , he said.
I received the Hamas response to the United States’ proposal. It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward.
Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.
That is the only…
— Office of the Special Envoy to the Middle East (@SE_MiddleEast)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will continue with his offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also blamed the group for the continuity of the conflict by refusing to release hostages and disarm.
On the Palestinian side, Hamas denies having rejected the plan. A high group official told Reuters that the answer was positive and only sought to add three amendments:
- Guarantees that negotiations for a permanent ceasefire proceed;
- The fighting will not resume after 60 days of truce;
- Israel’s defense forces retreated to the positions they held on March 2 this year.
In addition, the group argues that humanitarian aid be done exclusively through the UN.
For Hamas, the current proposal – although supported by Washington and – does not contemplate its main demand: the definitive end of war and occupation.
Bassem Naim, a member of the group’s political office, stated that the document “perpetuates the occupation and continues the killing and hunger.”
The US plan did not guarantee the permanent end of the conflict, only states that President Donald Trump is committed to maintaining “good faith” negotiations until the conclusion of an agreement.
Humanitarian aid, in turn, would enter Gaza immediately after the beginning of the truce and would be distributed by previously awake channels, such as the United Nations and the Red Crescent.
While conversations follow, the impasse on Hamas’s demands threatens to lock the mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt and Patter.
(With information from CNNI and Reuters)
