Hamas accepts UN ceasefire resolution, official says

Hamas accepts a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters today, adding that it was up to Washington to ensure that Israel abides by it.

Hamas accepts the UN Security Council resolution in regard to the ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli troops and swap of prisoners of war for detainees held by Israel, he said.

“The US administration is facing a real test to carry out its commitments in compelling the occupation to immediately end the war in an implementation of the UN Security Council resolution,” Abu Zuhri said.

This comes after 14 of the 15 Security Council members voted in favour of a US-drafted resolution. Russia abstained.

The resolution states that Israel has accepted the ceasefire proposal. Tel Aviv has failed to abide by previous UN ceasefire resolutions, including most recently in March, it has also not complied with the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to cease its genocidal actions in Gaza and “immediately halt” its operations in the southernmost city in the Strip, Rafah.

US President Joe Biden’s 31 May announcement of a new ceasefire proposal said it would begin with an initial six-month ceasefire with the release of prisoners of war in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from populated areas in Gaza and the return of Palestinian civilians to all areas in the territory.

Phase one also requires the safe distribution of humanitarian assistance “at scale throughout the Gaza Strip,” which Biden said would lead to 600 trucks with aid entering Gaza every day.

Phase two would require agreement from Israel and Hamas to permanently end “hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

Phase three would launch “a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of any deceased hostages still in Gaza to their families.”

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 36,700 Palestinians and wounded in excess of 83,000 others, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. It has also destroyed about 80 per cent of Gaza’s buildings and displaced two million of the Strip’s 2.3 million population, according to the UN.

READ: UN Security Council to vote on plan for Israel-Palestine ceasefire