A day after the United Nations Security Council endorsed a US-backed ceasefire proposal for the Gaza Strip, attention focused Tuesday on the will of Israel and Hamas, under growing international pressure to to end the war, to reach an agreement.
Each side made positive but vague statements about the ceasefire plan and blamed the other for prolonging a war that has devastated Gaza. But neither man said he would formally accept the proposal, which was outlined last month in a speech by President Biden and was the basis of the 14-0 vote in the Security Council on Monday.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, touring the region for the eighth time since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, said Tuesday that the fate of the ceasefire proposal rested with Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, responded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was “the only obstacle to reaching an agreement to end the war.”
An Israeli government official said in a statement that the proposed deal “enables Israel to achieve” its war goals, including the destruction of Hamas’ capabilities and the release of all hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and its allies. But the official, who could only be quoted on condition that his name and position be kept confidential, stopped short of saying whether Israel would accept the deal.
Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to take a firm stance on the plan. Last week, he cast doubt when he called the idea of a permanent negotiated ceasefire – which Hamas has called essential – “a failure.” Far-right elements in his governing coalition have threatened to flee if Netanyahu agrees to a ceasefire, which could topple him from power.
However, the Biden administration insists not only that Israel has endorsed the proposal, but that it was also Israel’s plan to begin with. Blinken said he had received explicit assurances from Netanyahu at their meeting on Monday that he supported the proposal, suggesting the prime minister was saying one thing to the United States and another to his coalition partners.
Hamas and an allied group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, issued a statement late Tuesday saying they had given Egypt and Qatar a response to the U.N. resolution, but did not say they had accepted it. They highlighted their willingness to negotiate and their demand for an Israeli withdrawal, points they had raised many times before. 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 amendments to the ceasefire plan, including firm timetables for not only a short-term, but also a permanent truce, 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 put forward by Biden. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Blinken blamed Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding underground in Gaza. Blinken questioned whether Hamas would act in the best interests of the Palestinian people by agreeing to 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 may be safe for now, I don’t know, 10 stories underground somewhere in Gaza, while the people he claims to represent carry on.” suffer in the crossfire of their own creation.”
Sinwar was the architect of the October 7 attacks, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people.
His calculations about the conflict became more evident Tuesday with the publication of messages he allegedly sent to negotiators. Citing what he said were letters sent to other Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, The Wall Street Journal quoted Mr. Sinwar as saying: “We have the Israelis right where we want them.”
Mr. Sinwar is also quoted as making comparisons to the hundreds of thousands of people killed in Algeria’s fight for independence, calling civilian casualties “necessary sacrifices.”
The message reinforced the idea raised by some experts that Sinwar is calculating that more fighting (and civilian deaths in Gaza) would strengthen Hamas’s position vis-à-vis Israel.
More than 36,000 people have been killed and some 80,000 injured in eight months, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says most of the dead are women, children and the elderly. Israeli bombing has reduced much of the territory to ruins, and food and other supplies are running critically low.
At a conference in Jordan on emergency aid for the Palestinians, Blinken announced $404 million in new US aid for Gaza on Tuesday. But between $2 billion and $3 billion more is needed, he said, urging other countries to collaborate.
In a statement, the State Department said the new aid commitment would provide “food, clean water, medical care, protection, education, shelter and psychosocial support.”
Earlier in the day, Blinken publicly called for increasing pressure on Hamas to reach a deal and singled out Sinwar in that effort. “Right now it really depends on one person,” he said.
“My main and first message today to all governments, to all multilateral institutions, to all humanitarian organizations that want to alleviate the massive suffering in Gaza: get Hamas to accept the agreement,” Blinken said. “Publicly pressure them. Press them privately.”
The resolution adopted by the Security Council calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to reach a permanent end to the fighting; He also says that if those talks last more than six weeks, the temporary truce would be extended. That appears to open the door to a longer pause in the war, one that some Israeli leaders have been reluctant to accept.
Blinken emphasized that “the commitment in accepting the proposal is to seek that lasting ceasefire,” adding: “But that has to be negotiated.”
Along with the immediate ceasefire, the first phase of the three-phase agreement calls for a major influx of aid to Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated 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 calls for a permanent ceasefire with the agreement of both sides, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages. The third phase would consist of a multi-year plan for the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the remains of the deceased hostages.
Blinken called the Security Council vote a sign that Hamas would be isolated if it did not accept the proposed deal. The resolution “made it as clear as possible that this is what the world is looking for,” he said.
Russia and the United States had repeatedly clashed over previous Gaza ceasefire resolutions, with each country using its veto power to block Security Council measures backed by the other. But on Monday Russia abstained, allowing the latest resolution to pass.
Adam Rasgon and Aaron Boxerman contributed with reports.