06/12/2024

The Gaza Ceasefire Plan Hangs in the Balance as U.S. Says Hamas is Seeking Changes

The WHO says many people in Gaza facing 'famine-like conditions'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Hamas had proposed numerous changes, some unworkable, to a U.S.-backed proposal for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, but that mediators were determined to close the gaps.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan denied that the Palestinian Islamist group had put forward new ideas. Speaking to pan-Arab Al-Araby TV, he reiterated Hamas' stance that it was Israel that was rejecting proposals and accused the U.S. administration of going along with its close ally to "evade any commitment" to a blueprint for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday many of Hamas' proposed changes were minor "and not unanticipated" while others differed more substantially from what was outlined in a U.N. Security Council resolution on Monday backing the plan put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden.

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