Qatar and Egypt announce they have received Hamas’ response to Biden’s proposal

CAIRO – Qatar and Egypt, the main mediators between Israel and Hamas, announced on Tuesday that they had received a response from the Islamist group and other Palestinian factions to a proposal announced in late May by U.S. President Joe Biden calling for a truce in Gaza.

“The State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt announce that today, June 11, they received a response to the latest proposals from the Hamas movement and Palestinian factions regarding a ceasefire agreement and an exchange of prisoners and detainees,” the mediators said in a joint statement.

The note, issued simultaneously by the Arab foreign ministries, did not reveal details of Hamas’ response, but stressed that it would be studied together with the United States.

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“The two countries confirmed that they will continue their joint mediation efforts with the United States until an agreement is reached, and the mediators will study the response and coordinate next steps with the parties involved,” the statement added.

The US president’s proposal, which received near-unanimous support in a UN Security Council resolution on Monday, offers Israel and Hamas a three-stage plan to end the Gaza war, which has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians in recent months.

In addition to a ceasefire, the plan contemplates exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, increased aid to Gazans, and, in the final stage, the launch of the enclave’s reconstruction process.

Hamas on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the Security Council’s adoption of a resolution supporting the proposal and said it was willing to “cooperate” with the mediators to implement it.

The Islamist group said in a statement it was willing to “cooperate with brother mediators to conduct indirect negotiations on the implementation of these principles, which is in line with the demands of our people and our resistance movement.”

Qatar and Egypt have in recent weeks stepped up engagement with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has been holding an undisclosed number of hostages since Oct. 7, to persuade them to accept the proposal, which has global support.