Blinken blasts Hamas for not accepting Israeli ceasefire deal 'as it is'

Israeli officials have repeatedly made it clear they will not accept stopping the genocidal war in Gaza until Hamas is fully ‘destroyed’

News Desk - The Cradle

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed Hamas’ response to the Israeli ceasefire plan on 12 June, saying that some of the requests by the Palestinian resistance were “workable” while others were not. 

“Hamas could have answered with a single word: yes. Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and requested numerous changes,” the US official said, noting that more people “will suffer” because of the group’s actions.

Although Blinken did not provide details about Hamas's proposed amendments, he said mediators would continue to try to “close the deal” in the upcoming days.

“It’s not like the world stood still for those 12 days; people were suffering for those 12 days,” Blinken said, just a few days removed from Israel's latest massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza, conducted with the assistance of the US army.

“The longer this goes on, the more people will suffer. It’s time for the haggling to stop and for the ceasefire to start; it’s as simple as that. Israel accepted the proposal as it was and as it is, and Hamas didn’t,” Blinken claimed.

“If Hamas continues to say no, I think it will be clear to everyone around the world that it’s on them and that they made a choice to continue a war that they started,” the US official added, ignoring the multiple statements from top Israeli officials saying that the genocidal war in Gaza will not end under any circumstances until Hamas is “destroyed.”

Blinken also alleged that the proposal presented by Israel two weeks ago is virtually the same as the one accepted by the Palestinian resistance in early May. However, the terms of the agreement accepted by Hamas call for a permanent ceasefire and the end of the nearly 20-year-long Israeli siege of Gaza, while the Israeli proposal does neither.

"We are determined to try to bridge the gaps, and I believe those gaps are bridgeable. Doesn't mean they will be bridged because again, it ultimately depends on people saying yes," Blinken added.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan recently revealed to Al Mayadeen the details of the Palestinian group’s response to the Israeli ceasefire plan.

“Our response is our commitment to what we previously committed to, a ceasefire and [complete] withdrawal from Gaza … I believe the American administration is trying to give Israel a chance and is aligned with it, and the disagreement is only tactical,” Hamdan said.

The Palestinian official added that Hamas welcomed a US resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC).

“Hamas welcomed the UN resolution because it includes a ceasefire, relief for the Palestinians, and negotiations. I believe that the resistance fronts are harmonizing towards a single goal, and as Sayyed Nasrallah said, the outcome will be victory,” Hamdan said.