A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, denied yesterday that the Palestinian Islamist group had put forward new ideas for a Washington-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal, after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said they had suggested a number of changes.
Hamdan, speaking to pan-Arab Al-Arabi television, also said Blinken was "part of the problem, not the solution" in the war in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Blinken previously said Hamas had proposed many changes, some of which were unworkable, to the proposal, though he also said mediators were determined to overcome differences.
"In everything we presented, we confirmed our commitment to what was presented on May 5 to the mediators and did not talk about any new ideas or proposals," Hamdan said.
He reiterated Hamas's position that it is Israel that is rejecting the proposals and accused the US administration of following its close ally to "avoid any commitment" to a plan for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamdan also asked for guarantees from the mediators to ensure that Israel does not "avoid its responsibilities".
Egyptian and Qatari mediators said on Tuesday that they had received a response from Hamas and other Palestinian groups to the US proposal, although the statement did not clarify what the response was.
On May 31, US President Joe Biden presented a "three-phase" Israeli proposal that would include negotiations on a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, as well as phased exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for months to broker a ceasefire in the conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives and destroyed the enclave, and free the hostages, more than 100 of whom are believed to be still trapped in Gaza.
Bonus video:
