After a glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a three-phase ceasefire agreement, which appeared to be a possible end to the seven-month-old war that has caused widespread destruction and killed approximately 1,200 people, Israel denied accepting the truce proposal on Monday, hours after Hamas said it did.
On May 6, the Palestinian Islamist party Hamas announced that it had accepted to the proposal proposed by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which included a three-phase ceasefire and a hostage-for-prisoner swap. According to Reuters, an Israeli official stated that the accord was unacceptable to Israel since its conditions had been “softened” and featured “far-reaching” conclusions.
In an effort to stop the war, the United States, along with Qatar and Egypt, has played a critical role in mediation discussions. Following Hamas’ answer, the United States stated that it was evaluating the response and will debate it further with its Middle Eastern partners.
In a statement issued on Monday, Hamas announced that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatar’s Prime Minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief that it accepted their truce proposal.
Last week, CIA Director Bill Burns flew to Cairo and Doha to collaborate with Qataris on the deal’s text, in order to make it a viable framework for conversations with Israel.
According to CNN, Israel will send a team of experts to Cairo on Tuesday to participate in additional talks based on that document.
