Hamas has been offered a 40-day ceasefire and the release of “potentially thousands” of Palestinian prisoners in return for freeing Israeli hostages, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Monday.
The Palestinian militant group has been given “a very generous offer of a sustained 40 days ceasefire, the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, in return for the release of these hostages,” Cameron told a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh.
“I hope Hamas do take this deal and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes of the world should be on them today saying take that deal,” Cameron said, adding that the proposal would lead to a “stop in the fighting that we all want to see so badly.”
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, but a flurry of diplomacy in recent days appeared to suggest a new push towards halting hostilities.
The UK foreign minister said that for a “political horizon for a two-state solution,” with an independent Palestine co-existing with Israel, the “people responsible for October 7, the Hamas leadership, would have to leave Gaza and the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza should be dismantled.”
“You’ve got to see a political future for the Palestinian people, but you’ve also crucially got to see security for Israel, and those two things have to go together,” he added.
With AFP
