The United States says it is “now Hamas' turn” to talk about peace

Madrid, February 4 (European Press) –

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that the Islamist movement Hamas now has the say to decide its response to the ceasefire agreement proposed by the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Israel, which has already been reached. In the hands of the leadership of the Palestinian group.

In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, he took the opportunity to separate the recent attacks by the US and UK against pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq and against the Houthi rebellion from negotiations for the release of prisoners. hostage-taking, which will be resumed, accompanied by a six-week ceasefire, if Hamas accepts the proposal.

He said, “The steps we took in Syria and Iraq or yesterday in Yemen are not related to the negotiations. At this stage, it is now up to Hamas to talk about this proposal.”

Then, in front of ABC cameras, Sullivan indicated that although he could not accurately estimate when Hamas would respond to the proposal, sources from the Saudi media Al-Hadath indicated that it could happen even today, without giving further details. . –, “This kind of conversation goes so slow that it starts so fast.”

“Everyone wants an end to the war, and no one wants the war to continue. But for that to happen, all the hostages must return to their homes and Hamas must stop posing a threat to Israel,” he said.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari confirmed on Friday that Hamas had received this proposal in a “positive atmosphere,” and that Doha was “awaiting your response” to move forward with an agreement with Israel that would culminate in ending the conflict. Release of hostages.

But the leader of the Lebanese Hamas movement, Osama Hamdan, called on Saturday for calm, saying that “the movement received the general proposal distributed by the Paris Quartet,” without clarifying the details of a possible response beyond that, as a reminder of the general demands of the Hamas movement to stop hostilities. Such as the complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip, the return of all prisoners, and ultimately, the declaration of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Regarding the attacks in these countries, the security official hinted that they may continue with new operations without giving more details or confirming or denying possible attacks in Iran. “We believe that previous attacks have had good results and that we will be able to continue sending a strong message as we continue,” he warned.

Later, Sullivan was interviewed on NBC and spoke further about the possibility of attacking Iran. He added: “Sitting here on television, it would not be smart for me to talk about ruling out or not ruling out” an attack on Iran. He added, “I will not go into what is on the table and what is not in the United States' response.”