(CNN)– US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the movement’s response “agitation” The proposed agreement to release hostages held in Gaza was “slightly exaggerated.”“He did not specify what he meant by this evaluation.
Biden was speaking about an hour after his Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, announced during a visit to Qatar that the United States and its partners were studying Hamas’ response.
The American President stated: “There was a reaction from the opposition,” and later clarified that he meant “Hamas.” He continued: “But it seems that the matter is a bit exaggerated. There are ongoing negotiations now.”
Hamas had provided a “positive” response to Qatar and Egypt to the framework agreement regarding the hostage deal, but it provided few details in a short statement.
The movement’s response included provisions that Israel did not offer, including a “comprehensive and complete ceasefire” and “lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip,” as well as “completing the prisoner exchange process.”
The movement said: “We value the role of the brothers in Egypt, Qatar and all countries that seek to stop the brutal aggression against our people.”
For his part, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said: “We received a response from the Hamas movement regarding the general framework of the agreement of the parties regarding what concerns hostages.”
The Qatari minister refused further details about Hamas’ response, but said during a press conference in Doha, on Tuesday evening, with his American counterpart: “The response includes some observations on the framework, but in its entirety it includes a positive response. The response calls us to be optimistic, and the response was delivered to the Israeli side.” .
The US Secretary of State said that the United States is reviewing Hamas’ response “now,” adding: “I will speak with the Israeli government tomorrow.”
He reiterated that the proposal presented to Hamas was “serious” and that it “does not aim to simply repeat the previous agreement, but rather expand it.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done, but we still believe that reaching an agreement is possible, and indeed necessary,” Blinken said. “And we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve this.”
In a related context, Biden said that the failure of a bill in Congress linking border security with more funding for Israel and Ukraine was related to the ongoing talks regarding the hostages, and he added: “It is all related to the issue of American power.”
Biden stated that those who oppose the draft law are preventing assistance to the Palestinian people who are truly suffering, and added that “this bipartisan agreement also provides Israel with what it needs to protect its people and defend itself against Hamas terrorists, and will provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, and with their opposition to this draft law, “They deprive people who are truly suffering from the help they desperately need.”
The draft law includes security aid to Israel and humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
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2024-02-06 21:17:09
