Hamas: Ready to deal 'positively' with proposal that includes a permanent Gaza cease-fire (2024)

The pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC has endorsed the latest Israeli cease-fire proposal, saying: "President Biden strongly embraced Israel's offer and made clear the onus is on Hamas to accept the framework deal that would return all the hostages and end the war the Iranian-backed terror group started when it broke a cease-fire on October 7."

"All members of Congress should strongly support the Israeli government's latest effort to secure freedom for its citizens, and the U.S. should insist that the international community unequivocally increase the pressure on Hamas to accept the terms," their statement reads.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Hamas "must accept" the new ceasefire deal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden.

"With a new hostage agreement on the table, Hamas must accept this deal so we can see a stop in the fighting, the hostages released and returned to their families and a flood of humanitarian aid into Gaza," Cameron wrote on X. "As we've long argued a stop in the fighting can be turned into a permanent peace if we are all prepared to take the right steps. Let's seize this moment and bring this conflict to an end."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls on Friday with foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan, the State Department said, to discuss a proposal to achieve an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.

The top U.S. diplomat, conducting the calls on the plane as he flew back to Washington from Prague, underscored to his counterparts that the proposal is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"We have a chance to end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people with cease-fire deal that is on the table," Blinken said on Friday. "I spoke with several of my counterparts in the region today to stress that Hamas should accept the deal."

"A cease-fire alone won't ease the terrible pain of Israelis whose loved ones were butchered or abducted by Hamas, or the Palestinians whose families have been shattered by the subsequent war. It won't resolve the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, or answer contentious issues surrounding a two-state solution or continuing settler activity in the West Bank. But what it can do is put a stop to the ongoing bloodshed, help families reunite and allow a surge of humanitarian aid to help desperate, hungry people," former U.S. President Barack Obama said of the cease-fire proposal announced by President Biden on Friday.

"It can save lives, here and now - and it can lay the foundation for what will be a long and difficult road to a future in which Israel is secure and at peace with its neighbors, and Palestinians finally have the security, freedom and self-determination that they have sought for so long," he continued.

"As the tragedy in Gaza has unfolded over the past eight months, we've witnessed an often fierce public debate here at home – and around the world – regarding how the United States should respond. But no matter where each of us stand in these broader debates, an enduring cease-fire is something we should all support – for the sake of Israelis, Palestinians and the world at large. I am deeply encouraged by the steady, tireless efforts of President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and our diplomatic team to bring this awful war to an end," he concluded.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Friday said it had a positive view of the contents of a proposal announced by U.S. President Joe Biden for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Biden earlier on Friday laid out a three-phase cease-fire plan from Israel to Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to end the war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

"Hamas confirms its readiness to deal positively and in a constructive manner with any proposal that is based on the permanent cease-fire and the full withdrawal [of Israeli forces] from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of Gaza], and the return of the displaced to their places, along with the fulfillment of a genuine prisoner swap deal if the occupation clearly announces commitment to such deal," the group said in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that Israel had authorized negotiators to present a Gaza truce deal after Biden revealed details of the cease-fire plan.

The families of the eight American hostages being held captive in Gaza commended U.S. President Joe Biden for "boldly declaring that the time for a deal is now" in his White House speech on Friday.

"As the President emphasized, we cannot let this moment pass," the families said in a statement. "It is imperative that the U.S., together with those countries whose citizens are held hostage by Hamas and all well-intended people, follow the US's lead to apply maximum pressure on Hamas and the Government of Israel to accept this deal."

"Now is the time for all of us – governments, NGOs, celebrities, and concerned citizens everywhere – to use our voices and demand a deal before it is too late," the statement added.