CAIRO: Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri criticized Washington and the West’s calls for it to accept a ceasefire proposal advanced by US President Joe Biden, saying on Tuesday it was “as if it is Hamas who is hampering the deal.”
In comments reported by Hamas media, Abu Zuhri said Israel was not serious about reaching a deal in Gaza and was still manoeuvring under US cover.
Biden on Friday laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal from Israel to Hamas to end the war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The offer calls for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Hamas said on Friday it had a positive view of the contents of the proposal.
The United States said on Sunday that if Hamas accepted the proposed plan it expected Israel to follow suit.
“This was an Israeli proposal. We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal, as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal, that Israel would say yes,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC News.
Qatar, which has been mediating on Gaza between Israel and Hamas, stressed that there should be a clear position from both parties to reach a ceasefire deal.
“We are waiting for a clear Israeli position that represents the entire government in response to the US’s Gaza proposal,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said.
Senior Hamas official criticizes US, West’s calls on group to accept Biden’s Gaza proposal
https://arab.news/wrhx9
Senior Hamas official criticizes US, West’s calls on group to accept Biden’s Gaza proposal
- Israel was not serious about reaching a deal in Gaza and was still manoeuvring under US cover
- Hamas said on Friday it had a positive view of the contents of the proposal
Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region
MOGADISHU: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland -- the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years.
The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu.
Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia's sixth federal state in August.
It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984.
Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu.
The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders.
Somaliland had controlled Las Anod since 2007 but was forced to withdraw in 2023 after violent clashes with Somali forces and pro-Mogadishu militias left scores dead.
Mohamud's visit "is a symbol of strengthening the unity and efforts of the federal government to enforce the territorial unity of the Somali country and its people", the Somali president's office said.
