Blinken says Hamas should accept "serious" Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal
Blinken says Hamas should accept "serious" Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal
Barak Ravid
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/09/blinken-hamas-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a news conference on Dec. 20, 2023. Photo: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said the new U.S. proposal for a hostage deal is "serious" and stressed Hamas needs to accept it in order to get a ceasefire in Gaza.
* Why it matters: Hamas didn't reject the proposal out of hand. In a statement on Monday, the group said "despite the Israeli rejectionist position" Hamas' leadership will discuss the new U.S. proposal "in a responsible manner" and when finished will deliver a response to the Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
"The ball is in Hamas' court and the world is watching to see what it will do," Blinken said.
Driving the news: The new U.S. proposal presented by CIA Director Bill Burns in Cairo on Sunday includes the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in return for a six-week ceasefire.
* The proposed deal would also involve Israel releasing 900 Palestinian prisoners — 200 more than a previous proposal, Israeli officials said.
* It notes that 100 of the prisoners will be those serving life sentences for murdering Israelis, the same number in the previous proposal.
* Israeli officials said Israel demands the ability to veto the release of specific prisoners as well as the possibility of deporting prisoners who will be released abroad so they do not return to the West Bank or Gaza.
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