TRANSCRIPT
Hamas officials say they are ready to engage in negotiations over a ceasefire proposal, outlined late last month by the United States.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed the plan, also announcing an additional $10 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinians.
The three-phase United Nations endorsed plan would include a permanent end to hostilities and the exchange of Israeli hostages.
Egypt and Qatar say they had received Hamas' response to the ceasefire proposal but did not disclose the contents.
An Israeli official meanwhile says the country has also received Hamas' answer from the mediators.
Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, Israel's representative to the UN, says it's sticking to its demands.
"Israel stands firm on our principles and they have not changed. We will continue until all of the hostages are returned and until Hamas military and governing capabilities are dismantled. These have been our goals from day one."
On Tuesday, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters news agency that the group accepted the ceasefire resolution and was ready to negotiate over the specifics.
United States President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire plan on 31 May describing it as an Israeli initiative.
The proposed deal would start with a six-week full and complete ceasefire in Gaza with Israeli forces pulling out of populated areas of the Palestinian enclave.
It would also include the release of some hostages taken by Hamas during its 7 October attack on Israel.
This would come in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Maya Ungar is an analyst with the International Crisis Group and has researched the work of the United Nations.
She says the ceasefire resolution is an important one but moving forward will take time.
“Even getting from phase one to phase two is going to be incredibly difficult. Which is part of the reason why I think we've seen such a broad type of reporting on the deal and an unwillingness to provide concrete details of the idea that, you know, if you have a broad deal that's agreed upon, if you have a broad statement that council members can come and, you know, pass a resolution on, it allows more flexibility for negotiations in the future.”
Talks with Hamas officials will continue via Qatari and Egyptian mediators, coordinated with the United States.
A conference on Gaza's humanitarian crisis held in Jordan brought together representatives from around the world.
In attendance at the meeting, Jordan's foreign minister Ayman al-Safadi says Israel's actions in Gaza need to be challenged.
“We will not let them dictate the agenda because they want to dictate agenda. If you hear (Itamar) Ben-Gvir and (Bezalel Yoel) Smotrich and others in this most radical of Israeli governments in history, they don't want to end the aggression. They don't want to recognise the Palestinians right to freedom. They don't even recognise the Palestinians as human being."
Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, was also at the conference in Jordan.
Mr Griffith says the Palestinian people expect the international community to take action and implement the ceasefire.
"This is absolutely clear, what we all need for the people of Gaza is a ceasefire. We've been saying that for months. This is simply one more nail in the coffin of those people who think that continuing the fighting in Gaza, the Rafah operation that we all predicted was going to be the nightmare that it is, and it's almost worse than we predicted. I hope the consensus of international opinion that we've seen also in this meeting hosted by Jordan and co-chaired with Egypt, does have that impact. And not just for the United States, but for all those governments sitting around that table in New York, for all those governments sitting around the table here in Jordan, take the action that you know is right and that the people expect of you.”
The war between Hamas and Israel is the latest escalation in a long-standing conflict.
More than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's retaliatory air, ground and sea assault on Gaza has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
