Hamas says it's given 'positive' response to U.S. ceasefire proposal, but more talks needed
CBC
Hamas said Friday it has given a "positive" response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza but said further talks were needed on implementation.
It wasn't clear if Hamas's statement meant it had accepted the proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire. The militant group has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce with Israel would lead to a total end to the war, now nearly 21 months old.
Trump has been pushing hard for a deal to be reached, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit the White House next week to discuss a deal.
The Hamas statement came as Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in shootings while seeking aid.
The United Nations human rights office said it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within the span of a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid. Most were killed while trying to reach food distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization, while others were massed waiting for aid trucks connected to the UN or other humanitarian organizations, it said.
Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, during which the U.S. would "work with all parties to end the war." He urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
In its statement late Friday, Hamas said it "has submitted its positive response" to Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
It said it is "fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework." It did not elaborate on what needed to be worked out in implementation.
An official close to the talks said Hamas had several issues it was requesting — that Israeli troops in Gaza pull back to positions they held on March 2 before it broke the previous ceasefire; that aid flow into Gaza in sufficient quantities through the UN and other international humanitarian agencies; and that negotiations continue beyond 60 days if needed to reach a deal for a permanent end to the war and the release of all remaining hostages being held in Gaza.
Previous rounds of negotiations have run aground over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the destruction of the militant group.
"We'll see what happens. We're going to know over the next 24 hours," Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Thursday when asked if Hamas had agreed to the latest framework for a ceasefire.
Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least three Palestinians were killed on Friday while on the roads heading to food distribution sites run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in southern Gaza.
Since the GHF began distributions in late May, witnesses have said almost daily that Israeli troops have opened fire toward crowds of Palestinians on the roads leading to the food centres. To reach the sites, people must walk several kilometres through an Israeli military zone where troops control the road.
The Israeli military has said previously it fires warning shots to control crowds or at Palestinians who approach its troops. The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside its immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military.
