11/6/2024–|Last updated: 11/6/202410:56 PM (Mecca time)
Sources told Tel Aviv Tribune that the head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, and the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad al-Nakhalah, delivered the response to the Israeli ceasefire proposal to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, on Tuesday evening.
The sources stated that the response that was delivered included amendments to the Israeli proposal, including a ceasefire. The amendments also included Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia axis, according to the same sources.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Doha and Cairo received a response from Hamas and the Palestinian factions regarding the proposal for a ceasefire deal and the exchange of prisoners and detainees.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry statement confirmed that the efforts of Qatar and Egypt in their joint mediation with the United States will continue until an agreement is reached. He pointed out that the mediators will study the response and coordinate with the concerned parties regarding the next steps.
The United States quickly welcomed the resistance’s response, and the White House said, “We learned that Hamas submitted its response to Qatar and Egypt and we are evaluating it. It is useful that we obtained Hamas’ response to the proposal and we reserve comment on it until it is reviewed.”
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A press statement issued by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements said that the response delivered to both Qatar and Egypt places “the priority in the interest of our Palestinian people, and the necessity of completely stopping the ongoing aggression against Gaza, and withdrawing from the entire Gaza Strip.”
The two movements also expressed their readiness “to deal positively to reach an agreement that ends this war against our people, based on a sense of national responsibility.”
Yesterday, Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution submitted by Washington calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stressing the importance of Qatari, Egyptian and American mediation efforts.
Hamas welcomed the contents of the UN Security Council resolution “regarding a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and complete Israeli withdrawal from it, in addition to the exchange of prisoners, reconstruction, the return of displaced persons, the introduction of aid, and the rejection of any demographic change or reduction of the area of the Strip.”
The statement affirmed Hamas’ readiness to cooperate with mediators to enter into indirect negotiations regarding the implementation of these principles, which it said were in line with the demands and resistance of the Palestinian people.