The United States said Sunday it expects Israel to accept the Gaza peace plan if Hamas does so. This plan “was an Israeli proposal. We expect, if Hamas agrees to the proposal as it was conveyed to it, (namely) an Israeli proposal, that Israel would say yes,” John said. Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesperson, to ABC News.
The road map was transmitted Thursday evening Washington time to the Palestinian Islamist movement, John Kirby said. “We are waiting for an official response from Hamas,” he added.
Information to remember
⇒ Blinken calls Gallant to discuss Gaza ceasefire
⇒ Yoav Gallant says he is “preparing” an alternative to Hamas
⇒ Netanyahu says he is “disappointed” that Biden does not support sanctions against the ICC
Blinken calls Gallant to discuss Gaza ceasefire
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken called Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday to discuss “the proposal to achieve a full ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of the hostages of Hamas, the State Department said. “The secretary of state welcomed Israel’s willingness to reach a deal and said it is up to Hamas to accept it,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The two officials called to discuss “the proposal to achieve a full ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of Hamas hostages, according to Matthew Miller.
Antony Blinken also pressed the Palestinian Islamist group on Sunday to accept the Israeli plan for a ceasefire in Gaza. The movement had deemed the new proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip “positive”, where at least 19 people died in strikes and shootings during the night from Sunday to Monday, including six in the Bureij refugee camp (center) and ten in the Armadhiya sector, near Khan Younes, according to medical sources.
Israeli Defense Minister says he is “preparing” an alternative to Hamas
Yoav Gallant indicated on Sunday that Israel, while carrying out its military operations in Gaza, was “preparing an alternative government” to Hamas after the war. The Israeli Defense Minister had already expressed his opposition in mid-May to military and political control by Israel of the Gaza Strip, where Hamas took power in 2007. “While we carry out our important military actions, the Ministry of Defense is simultaneously preparing an alternative government to Hamas,” Yoav Gallant said on Sunday, according to a press release released by his ministry.
During a meeting with troops near the Gaza border, the minister described a “framework” including “isolating areas” of Gaza from the presence of Hamas fighters and “introducing other forces that will enable the formation of an alternative power to Hamas.
On May 15, Yoav Gallant directly opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who considered any discussion on the future of this Palestinian territory before Hamas was wiped out to be futile. “I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to […] declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza Strip […] “There is no military leadership in place in the Gaza Strip and that an alternative power to Hamas will be prepared immediately,” he added.
Netanyahu says he is ‘disappointed’ that Biden does not support sanctions against the ICC
Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “surprised and disappointed” in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the fact that the American administration does not support sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose prosecutor wants an arrest warrant against him. The White House estimated this week that sanctioning this organization would not be “the right approach”, even if President Joe Biden had deemed the request for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders “scandalous”.
However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously suggested that the administration was open to working with Congress on a response to the ICC prosecutor’s announcement. “The United States had affirmed that it would support […] proposed sanctions laws,” the Israeli Prime Minister said in an interview with Sirius XM radio recorded on Wednesday, before Joe Biden announced a plan to end hostilities in Gaza.
“I thought that was still the American position because there was a consensus within both parties (Editor’s note: Republican and Democrat) just a few days ago, according to which there was going to be a bill on sanctions against the ICC if it persists in (seeking) these warrants,” he added. “Now you say there is a question mark, and frankly I am surprised and disappointed,” he said again. “In fact, America is in danger, because if Israeli elected officials […] are the subject of arrest warrants and Israeli soldiers are the subject of arrest warrants, the same thing will happen to your soldiers and your elected officials,” said Benjamin Netanyahu.