A senior U.S. official says Israel has essentially endorsed a framework of a proposed Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, and it is now up to Hamas to agree to it.

International mediators have been working for weeks to broker a deal to pause the fighting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10. A deal would likely allow aid to reach hundreds of thousands of desperate Palestinians in northern Gaza who aid officials worry are under threat of famine.

The Israelis “have more or less accepted” the proposal, which includes the six-week cease-fire as well as the release by Hamas of hostages considered vulnerable, which includes the sick, the wounded, the elderly and women, said the official.

“Right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House to brief reporters.

  • @anlumoEnglish
    -5•9 months ago

    Hamas’ goal is not to stop the oppression of Palestine, but the elimination of Israel. These topics are related, but not the same.

    • @[email protected]English
      6•9 months ago

      How are they not the same? Israel is by definition oppressive to Palestine, as it is a colonizer state created by pure legal fiction by the west after WW2. This is doxumented, there are documents about the founding of Israel as “give them part of Palestine, of course the locals won’t be happy but we’ve been colonizing for 4 centuries we know how to do this”