Spokesman for Hamas Sami Abu Zuhri said on Tuesday the group was never officially approached to participate in a ceasefire agreement put forward by Egypt.
Abu Zuhri told reporters: âHamas has not received, until now, any initiatives from any party.â He said this is the groups comment on the announcement of the Egyptian initiative, according to a Hamas statement posted on the movementâs website.
Egyptâs foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty, when asked for a response to Hamasâ claim, pointed out that the initiative was made public on Monday night after nearly two weeks of contact with âall sidesâ and that it refers to all âPalestinian factionsâ.
Abdelatty added that the ministry was âstill waitingâ for an official response from âdifferent Palestinian factionsâ with regards to a ceasefire initiative announced on Monday night.
The Israeli Cabinet accepted the proposal at 9am on Tuesday and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) was ordered to âsuspend strikes in Gazaâ, adding: âIf Hamas fires at Israel, we will respond with force.â The airstrikes on the Gaza Strip resumed on Tuesday afternoon in response to continued rocket fire from Palestinian territory.
The IDF counted at least 50 rockets had been launched during the six hours it had suspended airstrikes on Tuesday.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the initiative on Tuesday and called on all sides to accept the proposal, according to Palestinian Authority run news agency WAFA.
Abu Zuhri dismissed reports of disarmament, saying that due to the Israeli occupation âthe resistance by all means is a legitimate right of the peoples of the [Palestinian] territoriesâ
The Egyptian initiative is similar to the November 2012 agreement that was brokered by Egypt and the United States. In 2012 there was a specified 24-hour deadline to open the borders to the Gaza Strip to allow the movement of goods and people. The initiative presented on Monday night states this âshall be facilitated once the security situation becomes stable on the groundâ.
Another difference between the two initiatives is the absence of a United States official on the ground. In 2012 former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Cairo and announced the ceasefire alongside former Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr. US Secretary of State John Kerry was consulted during the formulation of the latest ceasefire initiative.
An Egyptian foreign ministry official told Daily News Egypt on Monday that Kerry was set to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday for talks on the situation in Gaza. On Tuesday it transpired that Kerry would not visit Cairo but would instead return to Washington. A spokesman for the US embassy in Cairo stressed: âThere was no visit we announced to begin with. We never announced from this office or from Washington.â He added: âthe official position has been we never announced he was coming to Cairoâ.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has reiterated that since the latest Israel-Hamas conflict flared up it has been in contact with âall sidesâ, which encompass the âdifferent Palestinian factionsâ including Hamas. The ministry said last week, 10 days of efforts to end the violence had been met with âintransigence and stubbornnessâ.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry Sameh Shoukry encouraged Arab support Monday for the Egyptian ceasefire initiative while commending Egyptian efforts to the âtragedy of [Arab] people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and East Jerusalemâ at the hands of Israeli attacks.
Shoukry, speaking at an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Monday, stressed that a ceasefire is absolutely necessary to end ongoing bloodshed in the occupied territories and prevent further escalation in the conflict that, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, has already cost over 190 Palestinian lives.
Shoukry said that because of Egyptâs âhistoric responsibilityâ to the Palestinian people, it has âworked from the first moment of the outbreak of the crisis⌠with all parties to contain the crisis and prevent further escalationâ.
Egyptian mediation, according to Shoukry, involved Palestinian and Israeli authorities, âa number of Arab and Islamic countriesâ as well as international actors, including Kerry.
While encouraging support for the Egyptian ceasefire agreement, Shoukry reminded the Arab League that âEgypt stresses the responsibility of the international community about what is happening in Palestine, and the need to continue efforts to resume negotiations between Palestine and Israel in earnestâ, which could ultimately lead to the two-state solution for which the Arab League has been pressing.
Shoukry concluded his speech by calling all concerned parties to give priority to the voice of reason in helping to end the Israeli policy of âcollective punishmentâ on the occupied Palestinian territories.
Additional reporting by Aaron T. Rose