Hamas accepts a UN resolution backing a plan to end the Israeli aggression in Gaza and is ready to negotiate details, a senior official of the group said on Tuesday in what the US Secretary of State called a hopeful sign. But Qatari and Egyptian mediators have not received formal replies from Hamas or Israel to the UN-backed truce proposal, an official close to the talks said, and both sides suggested on Tuesday the plan fit their clashing goals, raising doubt whether any genuine headway towards a deal had been made. Discussions also touching on post-war plans for Gaza will continue over the next couple of days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv after talks with Israeli leaders. Blinken met Israeli officials on Tuesday in a push to end the eight-month-old Israeli air and ground attack that has devastated Gaza, a day after President Joe Biden\u2019s proposal for a truce was approved by the UN Security Council. Ahead of Blinken\u2019s trip, Israel and Hamas both repeated hardline positions that have scuttled previous rounds of truce mediation, while Israel has pressed on with assaults in central and southern Gaza. Biden\u2019s proposal envisages a ceasefire and phased release of prisoners in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the crisis. On Tuesday, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, who is based outside Gaza, said it accepted the ceasefire resolution and was ready to negotiate over the specifics. This required a formula stipulating the total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a swap of prisoners held in Gaza for Palestinians jailed in Israel, he said. \u201cThe 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,\u201d Abu Zuhri said. Blinken said the Hamas statement was \u201ca hopeful sign\u201d but definitive word was still needed from the Hamas leadership inside Israeli-besieged Gaza. \u201cThat\u2019s what counts, and that\u2019s what we don\u2019t have yet.\u201d After Blinken left for Jordan, a senior Israeli government official, who asked not to be identified, said the published proposal would enable Israel to achieve its goals. The official repeated Israel\u2019s longstanding stance that Hamas\u2019 military and governing capabilities in Gaza must be annihilated, and all prisoners freed with Gaza posing no threat to Israel in the future. The US is Israel\u2019s closest ally and biggest arms supplier but, along with much of the world, has become sharply critical of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza and the destruction and humanitarian calamity wrought by the Israeli offensive. In the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinians reacted warily to the Security Council vote, fearing it could prove yet another ceasefire initiative that goes nowhere. \u201cWe will believe it only when we see it,\u201d said Shaban Abdel-Raouf, 47, a displaced family of five sheltering in the central city of Deir Al-Balah, a frequent target of Israeli firepower. \u201cWhen they tell us to pack our belongings and prepare to go back to Gaza City, we will know it is true,\u201d he said via a chat app. Post-deal planning Blinken said his talks were also addressing day-after plans for Gaza, including security, governance, and reconstruction of the enclave. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing that in consultation with many partners throughout the region. Those conversations will continue\u2026it\u2019s imperative that we have these plans,\u201d he said. As part of his eighth trouble-shooting trip to the Middle East since the Gaza conflict ignited, Blinken also sought steps to prevent months of border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah from escalating into a spillover war. On Monday, Blinken had talks in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, a key mediator in the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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