US President Joe Biden has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ response to the latest ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
In his proposal, Hamas has expressed its willingness to accept a multi-phased ceasefire agreement that would lead to the release of hostages and the reconstruction of the territory, as reported by the American portal Politico.
Without giving further details, it was reported that the Hamas movement, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and other countries, has thus sent new “ideas” to mediators to end the nearly nine-month war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas political leader Bassem Naim, according to DW, confirmed that the Palestinian militant group has responded to the latest ceasefire proposal submitted to mediators. He said Hamas had neither openly rejected nor accepted a recently amended US agreement.
VIDEO | Several relatives of the 116 hostages who remain held in the Gaza Strip almost 9 months after the Hamas attack blocked the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv to demand the release of their loved ones and the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. pic.twitter.com/WoyEiRPaOd
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) July 4, 2024
Israel, for its part, confirmed that it was “evaluating” Hamas’s “comments” on an agreement to release hostages held by the Islamist movement in power in Gaza, and that it would send its response to the mediators.
That wayBiden and his Israeli counterpart discussed “current efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement along with the release of the hostages,” as reported by the White House in a statement.
Biden, for his part, welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to “allow his negotiators to talk with mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt” in order to “seal the deal,” the text stressed.
Netanyahu said last week that he was committed to the truce proposal put forward by the US, while Hamas accuses him of prolonging the negotiations to gain time and continue the war in Gaza.
In less than a week, the war in Gaza will be nine months old, leaving more than 38,000 dead in the Palestinian enclave, according to data from the Gazan authorities, which are dependent on Hamas.
At least 322 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ground operation began. In total, more than 620 have been killed, including the Hamas attack on October 7.
Protests in Jerusalem against Netanyahu
Thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities on Thursday against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they accuse of “sabotaging the hostage deal, abandoning the north and leading Israel into the abyss,” according to a call issued by the anti-government movement Black Flags.
Behind a black, red and white banner reading “Netanyahu endangers Israel’s security,” thousands of people marched through the city’s streets on their way to Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street, where the protest will conclude.
“Time is running out: a deal is on the table!” was one of the slogans spread by the Black Flags on their digital channels during the march, demanding that Netanyahu reach a deal with Hamas to guarantee the safe return of the 120 hostages still in Gaza (116 of whom were kidnapped in the Islamist attacks of October 7, in which some 1,200 people died).
*With information from EFE.
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