06/03/2024June 3, 2024
Egypt hopeful for truce after Hamas reacts to plan in ‘positive way’
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Cairo was continuing to work with mediators US and Qatar to “motivate” Israel and Hamas to accept a cease-fire offer presented by US President Joe Biden.
“The initial statements from Hamas is that [the group] received the plan in a positive way. We are now waiting for the response from Israel,” Shoukry said in a press conference with his Spanish counterpart.
Shoukry’s remarks come a day after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington had “every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal… that Israel would say yes.”
On Friday, Biden presented what he called an Israeli three-phase plan that would halt the fighting, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of Gaza — without in power.
The US, Qatar and Egypt later said they called “on both Hamas and Israel to finalize the agreement embodying the principles outlined by President Joe Biden.”
The stated goal of Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza is to “destroy Hamas” after the deadly Hamas-led terror attacks on October 7 killed some 1,200 people. Over 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel started its military operation there, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
Israel, the US, the EU and several other countries classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
fb/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
The post Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu views Biden’s plan as incomplete appeared first on Deutsche Welle.