Hamas: US must provide ‘serious’ guarantees to end Israel’s war on Gaza

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has urged the US to provide “serious” guarantees to end Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, stressing that any potential agreement must include a ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the besieged territory.

Jihad Taha announced on Friday that Hamas was in consultations with other Palestinian factions on the ceasefire proposal it had recently received from Steve Witkoff, the US Special Envoy to West Asia, and was reviewing it to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

“We are discussing the Witkoff proposal for a ceasefire with high responsibility, alongside all factions,” he said.

“The Witkoff proposal does not take into account the understandings that the movement presented to the mediators, but we are discussing it seriously,” Taha was quoted as saying by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network.

Taha reiterated that Hamas is open to all proposals and ideas that would end the aggression and lead to withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

But he highlighted that Hamas “demanded serious guarantees from the American mediator to stop the war in Gaza.”

“Any agreement must include a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire,” he added.

According to Taha, the most recent proposal by Witkoff lacks any immediate or phased commitment to cease hostilities, whether partially or in stages.

“We have question marks regarding the Witkoff proposal, which does not include sufficient and clear guarantees,” Taha said, adding, “We call on the international community, with all its institutions, to declare a state of emergency to save the Gaza Strip, which is experiencing a major humanitarian tragedy.”

Earlier in the week, Al Jazeera cited unnamed sources as saying that Hamas and Witkoff had in the Qatari capital of Doha reached a formula for a permanent ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, in a move that may pave the way for an end to the 19-month-long war.

The Palestinian Shehab News Agency said the agreed formula provides for a 60-day ceasefire as a first stage, including the release of 10 Israeli captives in two batches, in addition to the exchange of bodies for Palestinian prisoners.

Shehab added that the exchanges will take place while a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza would begin based on an agreement reached in January.