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Qatar announced on Tuesday that Hamas has issued a "positive" response to a proposal aimed at releasing hostages in exchange for temporarily halting the Gaza conflict, but Israel slammed the proposal for including unacceptable conditions set by Hamas.
Qatar said Tuesday that Hamas has delivered a "positive" response to a proposal to free hostages in return for pausing the Gaza war, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will take to Israel.
"We have received a reply from Hamas over the general framework of the agreement regarding the hostages. The reply includes some comments, but in general it is positive," Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said after meeting Blinken in Doha.
The Qatari Prime Minister took part in talks a week ago in Paris with Israel, Egypt and the CIA, which came up with the proposal. He said he was optimistic but declined to discuss the Hamas reply in detail, citing the sensitivity of the circumstances.
Hamas confirmed that it submitted its response to Egypt and Qatar.
The militant group has for more than a week mulled the deal drawn up in its absence at Paris talks, as international pressure mounts to end the four-month war.
Hamas said the proposal was aimed at "ending the aggression against our people, securing relief and shelter, reconstruction, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and completing the process of a prisoner exchange."
Blinken, on his fifth tour of the region, said that he would discuss the proposal on Wednesday in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure from hardliners against perceived concessions to Hamas.
"There's still a lot of work to be done. But we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it," Blinken said.
Blinken explained that the deal "offers the prospect of extended calm, hostages out, more assistance in."
"That would clearly be beneficial to everyone, and I think that offers the best path forward," Blinken said.
Commenting on Hamas' response, a senior Israeli official said that the Hamas answer to the hostage deal is actually negative, because the conditions set by the Palestinian militant group are not acceptable to Israel.
Another Israeli source said that Israel is now going over the details of Hamas' response.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
Qatar said Tuesday that Hamas has delivered a "positive" response to a proposal to free hostages in return for pausing the Gaza war, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will take to Israel.
"We have received a reply from Hamas over the general framework of the agreement regarding the hostages. The reply includes some comments, but in general it is positive," Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said after meeting Blinken in Doha.
The Qatari Prime Minister took part in talks a week ago in Paris with Israel, Egypt and the CIA, which came up with the proposal. He said he was optimistic but declined to discuss the Hamas reply in detail, citing the sensitivity of the circumstances.
Hamas confirmed that it submitted its response to Egypt and Qatar.
The militant group has for more than a week mulled the deal drawn up in its absence at Paris talks, as international pressure mounts to end the four-month war.
Hamas said the proposal was aimed at "ending the aggression against our people, securing relief and shelter, reconstruction, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and completing the process of a prisoner exchange."
Blinken, on his fifth tour of the region, said that he would discuss the proposal on Wednesday in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure from hardliners against perceived concessions to Hamas.
"There's still a lot of work to be done. But we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it," Blinken said.
Blinken explained that the deal "offers the prospect of extended calm, hostages out, more assistance in."
"That would clearly be beneficial to everyone, and I think that offers the best path forward," Blinken said.
Commenting on Hamas' response, a senior Israeli official said that the Hamas answer to the hostage deal is actually negative, because the conditions set by the Palestinian militant group are not acceptable to Israel.
Another Israeli source said that Israel is now going over the details of Hamas' response.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
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