Ball Is in Israel’s Court, Hamas Says of Truce Proposal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said the ball is currently in the Israeli regime’s court after the Palestinian group agreed to an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In a telephone conversation with the Iranian foreign minister on Monday, Haniyeh outlined Hamas’ response to the political plan proposed to stop the war against Gaza.
Haniyeh stressed that Hamas will be standing up for the rights of the Palestinian people in any political agreement.
“We sent Hamas’ response to the plan proposed by Egypt and Qatar to stop the attacks by the Israeli regime, exchange prisoners, lift the human blockade on Gaza and other conditions,” he said, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
The ball is now in the enemy’s court, he added, noting that Hamas is honest in its intentions.
For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian hailed the heroic resistance that the Palestinian nation and resistance groups have shown against the Zionist regime in its genocidal war on Gaza in the past seven months.
He highlighted Iran’s recent diplomatic movements in support of Palestine and the resistance in international forums, including Tehran’s active presence at the 15th conference of the members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the Gambia.
The foreign minister also reaffirmed Iran’s support for the plan presented to realize the rights of the Palestinian people, including the immediate and permanent cessation of the crimes of the Zionist regime, the lifting of the cruel siege of the Gaza Strip, the exchange of prisoners, and the complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the coastal enclave, and the reconstruction of the areas in Gaza that have been flattened in the Israeli war.
The ceasefire proposal reportedly includes three phases and would see an end to Israel’s war on Gaza as well as the release of Israeli captives held in the enclave and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas’ announcement on Monday was met with celebrations in Gaza as Palestinians hoped it would finally bring an end to a nearly seven-month-long war, in which Israel has killed at least 34,700 people in the Palestinian territory.