Doha: Palestinian resistance group Hamas informed on Friday that they have rejected the new term for ceasefire proposed by the US-led mediators during the two days of talks in Qatar. When diplomatic efforts to stop the miserably failed in the past ten months of the war in Gaza, US President Joe Biden strongly asserted after the latest round of talks that they are closer to a ceasefire agreement than they have ever been, Agence France-Presse reported.
The US State Department said that Biden is sending US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel this weekend in a bid to move the latest proposal.
Biden said that Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediators have been demanding the finalization of details of a framework he outlined in May and proposed by Israel.
The mediators issued a joint statement, and they presented both sides with a proposal that will keep working on specifics on humanitarian provisions and the hostage/prisoner trade.
Before the end of next week, there will be talks resuming in Cairo to secure a rapid deal.
Hamas had not attended the Doha talks but called the new terms by Israel “new conditions. It hastily expressed its opposition to the new terms by Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded mediators to pressure Hamas to accept the US-proposed framework.
Bringing a ceasefire in Gaza gathered importance once Iran and its allies issued threats of attacks on Israel. Mediators are trying their best to keep the conflict from spilling into more nations in the Middle East.