Blinken praises Israel for its “willingness” to reach a deal with Hamas

The Secretary of State asks the Islamist group to accept the proposal

June 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Secretary of the United States Department of State, Antony Blinken, spoke this Sunday with the Minister of Defense of Israel, Yoav Gallant, to praise his “willingness” to reach an agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), to who has transferred the responsibility of accepting the proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages from Israel and detailed by the American president, Joe Biden.

“The secretary has praised Israel’s willingness to reach an agreement and stated that it is up to Hamas to accept it. He has stressed that the proposal would serve Israel’s long-term security interests, among other things, by allowing the possibility of greater integration in the region,” said Blinken’s spokesman, Matthew Miller, in a statement.

In that sense, the head of American diplomacy has defended his position of commitment to Israel’s security and to an agreement that leads to a ceasefire, the release of hostages and the increase in sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

A few hours earlier, the spokesman for the United States Security Council, John Kirby, assured that Israel will comply with its corresponding part of the peace plan detailed on Friday by Biden if the Islamist movement Hamas accepts the roadmap.

Biden on Friday detailed a ‘roadmap’ proposed by Israel with three phases for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The first would last six weeks and would include a ceasefire with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the most populated areas of Gaza and the release of some of the hostages, including women and elderly people, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The president explained that phase two includes the release of all remaining living hostages, including military personnel, and the Israeli Army will withdraw from the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas. Finally, the third part of this ‘roadmap’ contemplates “an important reconstruction plan for Gaza.”

The spokesperson explained that the United States “is still waiting for an official response from Hamas” but wanted to highlight that officials of the Palestinian movement “have already welcomed” a proposal that, senior White House officials pointed out yesterday under anonymity, is very similar to the one offered at the time by Hamas.

Likewise, the senior official of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, indicated that “Biden has announced ideas that we consider positive, but not sufficient” since the movement has asked for “a detailed agreement” because, as far as Israel is concerned, “the details have always been a permanent conflict.”

“There has to be a firm withdrawal, not a threat or an attempt,” added Hamdan in statements reported by the newspaper ‘Filastin’, which is affiliated with the Islamist movement. “We need clear texts that achieve what we want, and we need Israelis to accept them frankly, without evasions, or space for evasions, so it remains to be seen exactly what we have on our hands,” he added.

This plan contemplates, ultimately, the return of Israeli communities to the north of the country – currently vacant due to the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon -, as well as the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza “together with the international community and the “Arab allies” of the US.