US planning to present ‘take it or leave it’ Gaza ceasefire deal soon: Report
Washington (Quds News Network)- The US is in discussions with mediating partners Egypt and Qatar about the contours of a final “take it or leave it” ceasefire deal that it plans to present to Hamas and Israel in the coming weeks, the Washington Post reported.
The US newspaper cited a senior Biden administration official, who spoke to it on condition of anonymity.
The official told the Post that if Israel and Hamas fail to accept the proposal, it could mark the end of the US-led negotiation effort.
“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” they were quoted as saying.
The Israeli military announced on Sunday it recovered the bodies of six Israeli captives held in Gaza. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, claimed that Hamas “brutally murdered” the six captives whose bodies were found in Rafah “a short while before we reached them”.
Hamas, however, blamed Israel for the death of the captives, saying they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq stated that Hamas cares more about the lives of its prisoners than Biden does, emphasizing that the group had accepted his proposal and the UN Security Council resolution.
Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior member of Hamas and the head of its negotiation team, also condemned Israel’s actions, stating that they are responsible for the death of the captives, saying the Israeli military and the government of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endangered their lives by insisting on military action.
Biden officials said it was not immediately clear whether the discovery of the six Israeli captives “would make it more or less likely that Israel and Hamas could come to an agreement in the coming weeks,” according to the Post.
