US working to ‘bridge’ gaps in Hamas response to cease-fire proposal

Secretary of State Antony Blinken placed the blame on Hamas for dragging out negotiations to implement a cease-fire with Israel, but he said the U.S. would work to address some changes that were proposed by the armed-group that controls the Gaza Strip.

Blinken made his comments alongside the Qatari prime minister after discussions in Doha evaluating a response provided by Hamas, which was delivered 12 days after the group initially received the U.S.-led cease-fire proposal.

“If one side continues to change its demands and is insisting on changes it had already accepted, you have to question if it’s in good faith,” Blinken said, speaking to the frustrations of negotiating with Hamas.

“It’s time for the haggling to stop and the cease-fire to start. It’s as simple as that,” he added.

President Biden laid out a three-phase proposal late last month that would begin with an immediate, temporary, cease-fire to last for six-weeks. The U.S. has said Israel already accepted the proposal and put the responsibility on Hamas to deliver an answer to begin implementing the deal.

A major sticking point appears to be between Hamas’s insistence on guaranteeing a lasting cease-fire to a permanent end to hostilities and Israel only agreeing to the potential of negotiations for extending a cease-fire.

Blinken said Wednesday that Hamas responded with numerous changes to the original proposal and that the U.S. is committed to working with Qatar and Egypt to resolve differences.

“Some of the changes are workable, some are not,” he said. 

“Israel accepted the proposal, as it was and as it is. Hamas didn’t. I think it’s pretty clear what needs to happen, and we’re determined to make, in the coming days, we will work this with urgency and see if the gaps that are workable we can actually work and bring to conclusion,” the secretary continued.

Blinken added, “It may be that Hamas continues to say no. I think it will be clear to everyone around the world that it’s on them and they have made a choice to continue a war that they started.”

Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, said Israel has sent contradictory statements over its commitment to the proposal that also “requires pressure on them, as well as the other party.”

Qatar is the main interlocutor talking with Hamas, with the group’s political wing allowed to hold offices in the capital Doha. Al Thani said that the impetus for allowing Hamas to maintain a political office in Qatar is to keep open lines of communication, and that the reason for keeping it open still is “valid.”

“As a mediator, we try our best to respect our role, to bridge the gaps and not to make judgments on one party over another. And our biggest concern is that it’s taking too long to bridge these gaps,” he said. “We need to get this to an end as soon as possible. That’s where our focus is.”