The United States hopes that Hamas will accept the proposal and prepare additional diplomatic steps to reach the agreement.
The highest priority of US President Donald Trump is to end the war in the Gaza Strip and to ensure the release of hostages detained by the Palestinian militant movement Hamas. This was announced on Monday by the White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt before Trump’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, TASR writes, according to the AFP report.
The spokeswoman at a press conference also recalled a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to which Israel agreed to the United States. This proposal was subsequently submitted by Hamas and Leavitt said that the US “hopes that (militants) will agree with this proposal”. According to her, the US wants to release all Israeli hostages. According to her, the design of the ceasefire will be one of the topics that will be discussed on Monday at the White House of Trump and Netanyahu.
Ceasefire and negotiations
Leavitt refused to comment on the details of the agreement as the negotiations are not yet completed. However, she stated that Hamas had handed over a “acceptable and appropriate ceasefire proposal”. According to her, the President wants peace in the Middle East, and this is necessary for Hamas to agree with the agreement.
Last week, militants said they were investigating the proposal. The office of Israeli Prime Minister said on Saturday that Hamas is trying to make changes that are unacceptable for Israel in the proposal on the Gaza Zámie and the release of Israeli hostages. Nevertheless, Netanyahu sent a negotiating team to Dauha, Qatar to engage in further interviews.
Role of intermediaries
According to Leavitt, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff will join indirect negotiations this week. According to the Palestinian representative, there was no progress during the interviews that took place on Sunday evening and Monday afternoon. However, the negotiations were to continue on Monday, the unnamed representative added. At the same time, the White House spokeswoman highlighted the role of Egypt and Qatar in the mediation of negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
The Gaza War has lasted 21 months, and Trump said on Sunday that there could be an agreement between the fighting parties during the week.
