Hamas leader: group’s response to Gaza ceasefire aligns with Biden’s plan

Hamas is “ready for a comprehensive deal which entails a ceasefire, withdrawal from the Strip, the reconstruction of what was destroyed, and a comprehensive swap deal,” Haniyeh said.

REUTERS JUNE 16, 2024 11:08

Updated: JUNE 16, 2024 12:49

 Palestinian group Hamas' top leader, Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA)

Hamas’s response to the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal is consistent with the principles put forward in US President Joe Biden’s plan, the terror group’s Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech on the occasion of the Islamic Eid al-Adha on Sunday.

‘Hamas ready for a comprehensive deal,’ says Haniyeh

“Hamas and the (Palestinian) groups are ready for a comprehensive deal which entails a ceasefire, withdrawal from the Strip, the reconstruction of what was destroyed, and a comprehensive swap deal,” Haniyeh said, referring to the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

 US PRESIDENT Joe Biden speaks at the White House earlier this month. US policy toward Israel since its founding has been to prevent Israel from gaining as complete a victory as possible over its enemies, the writer maintains. (credit: Nathan Howard/Reuters)

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden speaks at the White House earlier this month. US policy toward Israel since its founding has been to prevent Israel from gaining as complete a victory as possible over its enemies, the writer maintains. (credit: Nathan Howard/Reuters)

On May 31, Biden laid out what he called a “three-phase” Israeli proposal that would include negotiations for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as well as phased exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Egypt and Qatar – which, along with the United States, have been mediating between Hamas and Israel – said on June 11 that they had received a response from the Palestinian terror groups to the US plan without giving further details.

While Israel said Hamas rejected key elements of the US plan, a senior Hamas leader told Reuters that the changes the group requested were “not significant.”

Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-806401.

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