US expects Israel to accept plan to end Gaza war if Hamas agrees
- PM Netanyahu’s office said the war would not end as long as Hamas retains power, raising questions about a truce offer unveiled by the US president on Friday
- However, on Sunday the US said the proposal ‘was an Israeli proposal. We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees, then Israel would say yes’
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that if Palestinian militant group Hamas agrees to the deal to end the Gaza war, the US expects Israel to also accept the plan.
“This was an Israeli proposal. We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal – as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal – then Israel would say yes,” Kirby said in an interview on ABC News’ This Week programme.
Israel said on Saturday that the Gaza war would not end as long as Hamas retains power, raising questions of timing and interpretation over a truce offer that US President Joe Biden has advanced and the Palestinian militants have cautiously welcomed.
Biden said on Friday that Israel had proposed a deal involving an initial six-week ceasefire with a partial Israeli military withdrawal and the release of some hostages while “a permanent end to hostilities” is negotiated through mediators.
The proposal, Biden said, also “creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power”. He did not elaborate on how that might be achieved. The Iranian-backed Islamist group has given no indication it might step aside or disarm voluntarily.
