Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the Gaza ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden on Friday is an “important step” as the parties await an official response from Hamas.
Freeland was asked about the proposal, which envisions three stages of actions aimed at permanently ending the conflict between Israel and Hamas, at an event in Toronto on Sunday.
He said Canada continues to call for a ceasefire, the return of the hostages and an urgent flow of humanitarian aid.
“The proposal that President Biden presented is an important step… We agree with the president that now is the time for the other side to make clear their opinion on the proposal,” he said.
Hamas has not yet formally responded to the proposal, which was sent to them through Qatar. U.S. officials have been pushing to finalize the deal, and on Sunday a senior Israeli official indicated that the country would accept the proposal if Hamas did so.
In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, Ophir Falk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top foreign policy adviser, said the proposal was “a deal that we agreed to, it’s not a good deal, but we desperately want the hostages be released, all of them.” “
“There are many details to be worked out,” he said, adding that Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization,” have not changed.
The agreement faces challenges. In Israel, senior members of Netanyahu’s coalition government have threatened to resign if it goes ahead.
Hamas has tentatively welcomed the ceasefire initiative, although a senior official with the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, said on Sunday that “Hamas is too big to be ignored or marginalized by Netanyahu or Biden.”
On Saturday, another Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera: “Biden’s speech included positive ideas, but we want this to materialize within the framework of a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands.”
Biden backs ceasefire plan between Israel and Hamas
US President Joe Biden backs an apparent Israeli proposal that could end its war with Hamas. The three-phase plan also calls for the release of all hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza.
The main sticking point in past negotiations has been Israel’s insistence that it would only discuss temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, which shows no signs of backing down, says it will release the hostages only if it seeks a permanent end to the war.
In his speech on Friday, Biden said the latest proposal “creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power.” He did not elaborate on how this would be achieved, acknowledging that “there are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two.”
Falk reiterated Netanyahu’s position that “there will be no permanent ceasefire until all of our objectives are met.”
It has been almost eight months since Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 more hostage, according to Israel. During Israel’s attack on Gaza, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, says the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
