Blinken's Insinuation, Hamas Denies Submitting New Proposal For Ceasefire In Gaza

Destruction in northern Gaza/UNRWA DOK

JAKARTA - Senior Hamas Osama Hamdan officials denied it was proposing new ideas for the US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it had suggested many changes.

Hamdan, speaking to Al-Arab Al-Arab TV, also said Blinken was a "part of the problem, not a solution" in the Gaza war.

Previously, Blinken said Hamas had suggested many changes, some of which could not be implemented, on the proposal although he also said the mediators remained determined to close the gap.

"In everything we convey, we affirm our commitment to what was conveyed on May 5 to the mediators and we are not discussing new ideas or proposals," Hamdan said.

He reiterated Hamas' stance that Israel was the party rejecting the proposal and accused the US government of following its close allies of "evading any commitment" to a permanent ceasefire blueprint in the Gaza Strip.

As previously reported, Palestinian militant group Hamas reiterated that their response to the ceasefire proposal was good and paving the way for an agreement to be reached.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau Hamas, said Hamas and Palestinian factions had responded positively and seriously to the Israeli ceasefire proposal, opening up opportunities for an agreement to be reached.

Instead, he accused the Israeli media of sedition and sought to avoid the obligations of the agreement.

"Hamas' response and Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal are responsible, serious and positive. The response is consistent with the demands of the people and our resistance and paved the way for an agreement," he said, launching CNN12 June.

"The results of Israeli media on Hamas' response are an indication of efforts to avoid the obligation of the agreement," said al-Rishq.