A Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal “now is in sight”, the United States envoy to the United Nations has told the UN Security Council (UNSC) as a new round of talks begins in the Egyptian capital.
Speaking before the council on Thursday, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on Hamas to accept a “bridging proposal” put forward by the US that appears to differ from a previous proposal adopted by the UNSC and agreed to by the Palestinian group.
The proposal ostensibly aims to bridge unresolved disputes between Israel and Hamas to end the violence in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed at least 40,265 Palestinians, wounded more than 93,000 others and created a humanitarian crisis since beginning their offensive in October.
“Israel has accepted the bridging proposal. Now Hamas must do the same,” she said. “As members of this council, we must speak with one voice, and we must use our leverage to press Hamas to accept the bridging proposal.”
The remarks by Thomas-Greenfield continued a trend of US officials claiming that Israel has agreed to a deal that Hamas has yet to accept despite indications that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on Israel retaining strips of territory inside Gaza is the primary obstacle to a deal.
Hamas has accused Netanyahu of adopting positions intended to sabotage progress towards an agreement to end Israel’s nearly 11-month war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a new round of Israel-Hamas negotiations, mediated by the US and Egypt, is under way in Cairo. A Qatari delegation is expected to join the talks on Friday, the Reuters news agency said.
Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri said an Israeli delegation, that includes the heads of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet security service, was taking part in the Cairo talks and “negotiating to advance a hostage [release] agreement”.
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