Hamas official Osama Hamdan on Tuesday appeared to douse optimism on the possibility of a hostage deal after Israel sent it a proposal for a three-phased agreement that reignited hope to see the return of the remaining captives as well as intense political debate.
“We asked the mediators to get a clear Israeli position to commit to a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from Gaza,” he said at a press conference in Beirut.
Hamas could not agree to a deal without Israeli clarity on these points, he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted, including in a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, that Israel must be allowed to continue the war until Hamas is defeated.
He “emphasized that the outline [agreement] allows Israel to realize all of the objectives of the war that it has defined, including the elimination of Hamas,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. “The prime minister stressed that alongside the release of the hostages, this was, and remains, a fundamental objective of Israel in the war, which it is determined to realize.”
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party have threatened to bolt the coalition if it promises to halt the war before complete victory over Hamas.
The three-phased deal, which is an Israeli proposal, calls for a temporary halt to the fighting during the first phase, during which female, ill, infirmed, and elderly hostages will be freed over a six-week period. On the 16th day of the deal, talks would begin about the second phase, which would set out the terms of the continued lull in the fighting.
Egypt and Qatar, with the support of the US, have been mediating the deal and hope this option will leave enough of a gray area to allow it to move forward.
White House says it received no formal response from Hamas
The White House on Tuesday said it had not yet received a formal response from Hamas. US special envoy Brett McGurk and CIA Director William Burns are expected to travel to the region this week in an attempt to help close the deal, according to media reports.
The US has sought broad international support for the deal, which was first unveiled by US President Joe Biden on Friday. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt issued a joint statement in support of the deal, as did the G7. The Biden administration has also sought a UN Security Council resolution backing the deal.
In Washington, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday said: “The international community must continue to insist that Hamas accept this deal. The proposal on the table is nearly identical to what Hamas said it would accept just a few weeks ago.
“Israel has said it is ready to implement it. It is time to finalize this agreement, put an end to the violence, and build a better future for both Palestinians and Israelis alike... Our focus is trying to get Hamas signed up to this deal so we can get phase one under way. And then 16 days into phase one, we will begin negotiations about how to take phase one to phase two, and we are committed to trying to get it over to the line,” Miller said.
Qatar on Tuesday said it had delivered an Israeli proposal to Hamas that reflected the positions stated by Biden, adding that it was now much closer to the positions of both sides. The US has said it had delivered the proposal to Hamas last Thursday night.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari on Tuesday said there should be a clear position from both parties to reach a ceasefire deal.
“We are waiting for a clear Israeli position that represents the entire government in response to the US’s Gaza proposal,” he said. “The ceasefire deal should immediately end the long suffering of all people in Gaza and the hostages and their families and provide a road map for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the crisis.”
Qatar was still waiting for both parties to agree on the language of a deal, Ansari said, adding: “We are now using our best efforts to finalize an agreement.”
Reuters contributed to this article.