More than a dozen world leaders have urged Hamas to accept the long-negotiated ceasefire agreement, after the terrorist group stalled on the three-phase agreement to which it reacted positively last week.
Talks involving mediators from Qatar and the United States that began yesterday have made little progress, as Hamas has demanded guarantees that the deal will lead to a complete cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
The stalemate comes just a week after Hamas said it was willing to participate “constructively” in 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 actors, today jointly urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement 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 Israeli Ministry of Defense to demonstrate demanding a ceasefire in Gaza
Smoke rises after airstrike in Rafah
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh (pictured) said the group would “treat the deal seriously and positively.”
The declaration was signed by the leaders of major European powers, Britain, France and Germany, as well as Spain, which has angered 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 leftist presidents have stridently denounced Israel, and Argentina, whose new libertarian leader backs Israel.
The United States has repeatedly said that Hamas has a responsibility to accept the deal, but the statement also called for flexibility on Israel’s part.
“At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel and Hamas to make whatever final commitments are necessary to close this deal and provide relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict. including civilian populations,” he said.
A woman and her children walk past a wall with photographs of hostages kidnapped during the Hamas cross-border attack on October 7.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the militant group Hamas
“It is time for the war to end and this agreement is the necessary starting point.”
The talks in Doha, capital of Qatar, attended yesterday by CIA Director William Burns, are the latest in a series of negotiations held in recent months that aim to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. .
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that the group would “seriously and positively approach any agreement that is based on a comprehensive end to aggression and complete withdrawal and exchange of prisoners.”
But Israel said fighting would not stop during ceasefire talks as it mounted a new attack on a central section of the Gaza Strip.
A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, added Thursday that while the group welcomed what he called “Biden’s ideas,” the U.S. draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council hinged on a proposal Israeli ceasefire that Hamas had seen and rejected.
“The document… does not mention the end of the aggression or the withdrawal,” he said.
Palestinians inspect the housing of a UN school to relocate people who were hit during Israeli bombings.
A Palestinian girl watches as others inspect the living quarters of a UN school for displaced people hit during the Israeli bombing in Nuseirat.
‘The Israeli documents speak of open negotiations without a deadline, and speak of a stage during which the occupation recovers its hostages and resumes the war. We had told the mediators that this document was not acceptable to us,” Abu Zuhri said.
He said Hamas was committed to its May 5 proposal, which was based on an end to fighting and an Israeli withdrawal, an exchange deal and lifting the blockade of the enclave.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
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 rubble.