Hamas official denies group presented new ideas for Gaza truce deal

Senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, denied on Wednesday that the Palestinian group had put forward new ideas for the US-backed proposal for a Gaza ceasefire, after US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said it had suggested numerous changes, Reuters reports.

Hamdan, speaking to pan-Arab Al-Araby TV, also said Blinken was “part of the problem, not the solution” in the Gaza war.

Earlier, Blinken said that Hamas had suggested many changes, some unworkable, to the proposal though he also said mediators remained determined to close the gaps.

“In everything that we presented, we affirmed our commitment to what was presented on May 5 to the mediators and we did not talk about any new ideas or proposals,” Hamdan said.

He reiterated Hamas’s stance that it was Israel that was rejecting proposals and accused the US administration of going along with its close ally to “evade any commitment” to a blueprint for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Hamdan also demanded guarantees from mediators to ensure that Israel does not “evade its responsibilities”.

On Tuesday, Egyptian and Qatari mediators said they had received a response from Hamas and other Palestinian groups to the US proposal, though the statement did not clarify what the response entailed.

On 31 May, US President, Joe 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.

READ: Gaza ceasefire plan hangs in balance as Hamas seeks changes