Israeli official claims Hamas rejected cease-fire proposal outlined by US

By Mustafa Deveci

A senior Israeli official claimed Tuesday that Hamas has rejected a cease-fire proposal publicly outlined by US President Joe Biden, local media reported.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli administration had received the Palestinian group’s response to the proposal through mediators.

The official argued that Hamas changed “all of the main and most meaningful parameters” of the draft announced by Biden.

The US has received Hamas's official response to the cease-fire proposal and is evaluating it, the White House said Tuesday.

On Monday, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution supporting a Gaza cease-fire proposal outlined by Biden.

On May 31, Biden said that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 37,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 84,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar