A day after the United Nations Security Council approved a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal for the Gaza Strip, the focus turned Tuesday to the willingness of Israel and Hamas, under mounting international pressure to end the war, to agreement.
Each side made positive but vague statements about the ceasefire plan and accused the other of prolonging a war that has devastated Gaza. But neither said they would formally embrace the proposal, which was presented last month in a speech by President Biden and was the basis of a 14-0 Security Council vote on Monday.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, touring the region for the eighth time since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, said Tuesday that the fate of the cease-fire proposal rests with Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, countered that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “the only obstacle to an agreement that would end the war.”
An Israeli government official said in a statement that the proposed deal “allows Israel to achieve” its war goals, including destroying Hamas’ capabilities and freeing all hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and its allies. But the official, who could only be quoted on condition that his name and title be withheld, did not say whether Israel would accept the deal.
Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to take a firm position on the plan. Last week, he sowed doubt when he called the idea of ​​a permanent negotiated ceasefire – which Hamas called meaningful – a “non-starter”. Far-right elements of his ruling coalition have threatened to shut down if Mr Netanyahu accepts the ceasefire, potentially ousting him from power.
However, the Biden administration insists not only that Israel approved the proposal, but that it was also Israel’s plan in the first place. Mr Blinken said he received express assurances from Mr Netanyahu at their meeting on Monday that he supported the proposal, suggesting the prime minister was telling the United States one thing and his coalition partners another.
Hamas and an allied group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, issued a statement late Tuesday saying they had given Egypt and Qatar a response to the UN resolution, but did not say they had accepted it. They emphasized their readiness to negotiate and their demand for Israel’s withdrawal – points they have made many times in the past. Qatar and Egypt act as intermediaries between Israel and Hamas, which do not communicate directly with each other.
An official with knowledge of the talks said the groups’ response called for modifications to the cease-fire plan, including firm timetables not just for a short-term truce, but for a permanent one, and for a full Israeli withdrawal.
Later, an Israeli official who said the Israeli negotiating team had received a copy of Hamas’s response described it as a rejection of the proposal Mr. Biden had presented. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Mr Blinken put the onus on Mr Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding underground in Gaza. Mr Blinken questioned whether Hamas would act in the interests of the Palestinian people by accepting a deal that would allow more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.
Alternatively, he said, Hamas could be “taking care of a guy,” Mr. Sinwar, “who might be safe for now, I don’t know, 10 stories underground somewhere in Gaza, while the people he’s supposed to represent continue to suffers in the crossfire of his own making.”
Mr. Shinwar was an architect of the Oct. 7 attacks, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people.
His calculations for the conflict came into focus on Tuesday with the release of messages he allegedly sent to negotiators. Citing what it said were letters sent to other Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Shinwar said: “We have the Israelis right where we want them.”
Mr Sinwar is also reported to have made comparisons with the many hundreds of thousands of people killed in Algeria’s independence struggle, calling the civilian casualties “necessary sacrifices”.
The message reinforced the perception by some experts that Mr. Sinwar was counting on more fighting – and civilian deaths in Gaza – to strengthen Hamas’ hand against Israel.
More than 36,000 people have been killed and about 80,000 people injured in eight months, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which says the majority of the dead are women, children and the elderly. Israeli bombardment has left much of the territory in ruins and food and other supplies are extremely limited.
At a conference in Jordan on emergency aid for the Palestinians, Mr Blinken on Tuesday announced $404m in new US aid to Gaza. But $2 billion to $3 billion more is needed, he said, urging other countries to join.
In a statement, the State Department said the new aid commitment would provide “food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter and psychosocial support.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Blinken made a public call to increase pressure on Hamas for a deal and singled out Mr. Sinwar in that effort. “It really depends on an individual at this point,” he said.
“My primary and first message today to every government, every multilateral institution, every humanitarian organization that wants to alleviate the enormous suffering in Gaza: Get Hamas to get the deal,” Mr. Blinken said. “Push them in public. Press private.”
The resolution adopted by the Security Council calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to end the fighting permanently. it also says that if these talks last more than six weeks, the temporary truce will be extended. That appears to open the door to a longer pause in the war, one that some Israeli leaders have been loathe to accept.
Mr Blinken stressed that “the commitment to the deal with the proposal is to pursue this lasting ceasefire,” adding: “But that has to be negotiated.”
Along with an immediate ceasefire, the first phase of the three-phase deal calls for a large influx of aid to Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from residential areas of the territory. It also includes the release of hostages held there, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for a greater number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons
The second phase requires a permanent ceasefire with the agreement of both parties, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages. The third phase will consist of a multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of the dead hostages.
Mr Blinken called the Security Council vote a sign that Hamas would isolate itself if it did not agree to the proposed deal. The resolution “made it as clear as it could be that this is what people are looking for,” he said.
Russia and the United States have repeatedly clashed over previous Gaza ceasefire resolutions, with each country using its veto power to block Security Council measures supported by the other. But on Monday, Russia abstained, allowing the latest resolution to pass.
Adam Rasgon and Aaron Boxerman contributed to the report.
