Gaza, Hamas accepts ceasefire plan: “Ready to negotiate”

The UN resolution approved yesterday promotes the US road map, but there are still deaths in the Strip

ROME – Hamas accepts the three-stage agreement proposed by the United States to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as part of the resolution approved yesterday evening by the Security Council of United Nations. This was confirmed by one of the leaders of the Palestinian group, Sami Abu Zuhri, according to the Reuters agency. Already yesterday evening Hamas had welcomed both the resolution and the plan, guaranteeing their respect and willingness to sit at a table to negotiate the details. The White House has asked the leaders of the Palestinian group to provide guarantees of this commitment. Now, through Abu Zuhri, it is the group that is asking the White House for guarantees regarding Israel’s membership. The Tel Aviv government has not said it is against the plan, however it continues to state that military operations will continue until Hamas is eliminated from Gaza, and this casts doubts on the commitments it promises to make in compliance to the ceasefire.

This morning there were at least nine victims of Israeli attacks that hit residential buildings in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip. The Wafa agency reports that a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood was hit at dawn, and one of the occupants lost his life. In the previous hours, another building was bombed, causing eight deaths, including children. Rescuers, according to the Al Jazeera broadcaster, are working to rescue the people trapped under the rubble. An Israeli attack also killed three other people in the Deir el-Balah area, in central Gaza.
The attacks by the Israeli army occurred despite the United Nations Security Council yesterday approving the resolution 2735, which orders the immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the implementation of the three-stage peace plan proposed by the United States on May 31st.

The text was approved with 14 votes in favour, zero against and only one abstention, that of Russia. The resolution calls on the “parties to fully implement the terms of the plan without further delay or conditions”, which consists of the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the full entry of “large-scale” humanitarian aid, in exchange for the release of all hostages held by Hamas captured in the attack on 7 October. The ceasefire will last six weeks, a period in which the warring parties will have to work to reach an agreement that will permanently end hostilities. Immediately after the approval of the resolution, the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union Josep Borrell expressed appreciation and support for the resolution.