More than a dozen world leaders have urged Hamas to accept the long-negotiated ceasefire deal, after the terror group stalled over the three-phase deal that it reacted positively to just last week.
Talks involving mediators from Qatar, and the US that began yesterday have made little progress as Hamas has made demands for guarantees that the deal would deliver a complete cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
The stalling comes just a week after Hamas said it was ready to engage ‘in a constructive manner’ with the three-phase deal unveiled by US president Joe Biden in late May.
Biden and 16 other world leaders including key European and Latin American players have today jointly urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal and for Israel to accept compromises.
‘There is no time to lose. We call on Hamas to close this agreement,’ said the statement issued by the White House.
Hundreds of people gather with banners and Israeli flags in front of the Israel’s Ministry of Defense to demonstrate demanding a ceasefire on Gaza
Smoke rises from an airstrike on Rafah
Top Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh (pictured) claimed that the group would ‘deal seriously and positively’ with the agreement
The statement was signed by the leaders of key European powers Britain, France and Germany as well as by Spain, which has infuriated Israel by recognizing a Palestinian state.
More unusually, the statement brought together the ideologically divergent leaders of South America’s most populous nations – Brazil and Colombia, whose left-wing presidents have stridently denounced Israel, and Argentina, whose new libertarian leader backs Israel.
The United States has repeatedly said the onus is on Hamas to accept the deal, but the statement also called for flexibility from Israel.
‘At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal and bring relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict, including the civilian populations,’ it said.
A woman and her children walk past a wall with photographs of hostages who were kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas cross-border attack
Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group
‘It is time for the war to end and this deal is the necessary starting point.’
The talks in Qatar’s capital Doha, which were yesterday attended by CIA director William Burns, are the latest in a series of negotiations held over the last few months that aim to secure a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Top Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh claimed on Wednesday that the group would ‘deal seriously and positively with any agreement that is based on a comprehensive ending of the aggression and the complete withdrawal and prisoners swap’.
But Israel said there would be no halt to fighting during ceasefire talks as it mounted a new assault on a central section of the Gaza Strip.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri added on Thursday that while the group welcomed what he called ‘Biden’s ideas’, the US draft resolution at the UN Security Council was dependent on an Israeli ceasefire proposal Hamas had seen and had rejected.
‘The document… has no mention of ending the aggression or the withdrawal,’ he said.
Palestinians check a UN-school housing displacing people that was hit during Israeli bombardmen
A Palestinian girl watches as others check a UN-school housing displacing people that was hit during Israeli bombardment in Nuseirat
‘The Israeli documents speak of open-ended negotiation with no deadline, and it speaks of a stage during which the occupation regains its hostages and resumes the war. We had told the mediators that such a paper wasn’t acceptable to us,’ said Abu Zuhri.
He said Hamas was committed to its May 5 proposal which was was based on an end to the fighting and an Israeli withdrawal, a swap deal, and a lifting of the blockade of the enclave.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, who say thousands more are feared buried under the rubble.
