US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted a new “bridging proposal” for a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, but Hamas said the proposal in fact “meets Netanyahu’s conditions” and fits his agenda, Anadolu reports.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Blinken said the “bridging proposal” that Netanyahu accepted “reflects what is in the ceasefire agreement that President (Joe) Biden put before the world” on May 31.
“It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same, and then the parties, with the help of the mediators the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, have come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement,” he added.
On the other hand, Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday that the new proposal meets “Netanyahu’s conditions and aligns with them, particularly his refusal of a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction (which separates the north and south of the Gaza Strip), the Rafah crossing, and the Philadelphi Corridor (in the south).”
“He also set new conditions in the hostage swap file and retracted other terms, which obstructs completion of the deal,” Hamas said in a statement.
