People check the damage in a house destroyed by overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 27, 2024. © AFP
Hamas accepts a UN security council ceasefire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has told Reuters.
HDN Newsroom
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the statement of support for a UN resolution backing the proposal was a “hopeful sign”, but that word coming from the Palestinian militant group’s leadership in Gaza is what counts.
Conversations on plans for Gaza after the ceasefire would continue on Tuesday afternoon and in the next couple of days, Blinken said. “It’s imperative that we have these plans.”
On his eighth visit to the region since 7 October Blinken spent Monday in Egypt and then travelled to Israel where he has met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant. He has also met with families of those being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
The US secretary of state also cautioned that the longer the military campaign in Gaza continues, the more the wider region risks a war.
The UN security council has adopted a resolution calling for Hamas to agree to a three-phase hostage-for-ceasefire proposal outlined by Joe Biden, the first time the body has endorsed a comprehensive peace deal to end the Gaza war.
The plan calls for an initial exchange of elderly, sick or female hostages for Palestinian detainees held by Israel during an initial six-week ceasefire. That would evolve into a permanent end to hostilities and the release of all hostages in a second phase that would be negotiated by the two parties and US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
A third phase would involve a major reconstruction effort. The UN has estimated that half of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli bombarment.
However, yesterday Israel’s finance minister, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, said he would oppose any deal, calling it “collective suicide” and saying that releasing Palestinian detainees would lead to the murder of Jews.
