Hamas accepts UN ceasefire resolution
Hamas has accepts the ceasefire resolution adopted by the UN on Monday and is open to further negotiations on the details, a representative of the extremist Palestinian organisation told Reuters on Tuesday. US secretary of state Antony Blinken called Hamas's response "a hopeful sign".
The plan was outlined by US president Joe Biden in May and was accepted by the UN Security Council on Monday. It consists of three phases that should lead from a temporary ceasefire to lasting peace.
The first phase of the roadmap should last six weeks. During this phase, Hamas is to release female, elderly and wounded hostages, while the Israeli army withdraws from inhabited areas of the Gaza Strip. Humanitarian aid will also be brought into Gaza and Hamas and Israel will negotiate the second phase, a permanent ceasefire.
In the second phase, the Israeli army must withdraw completely from Gaza and all hostages must be released. In the third phase, Gaza must be rebuilt and the bodies of the deceased hostages handed over. According to Biden, this was an Israeli demand.
'A hopeful sign'
On Monday, Hamas said it "welcomed" the resolution but reaffirmed its demands for a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
That Hamas now says it accepts the proposal is a "hopeful sign", according to Blinken. He confirmed that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was committed to the plan. Blinken is in Israel meeting opposition representatives to defend the ceasefire plan.
© PHOTO ANGELA WEISS / AFP
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