US awaiting response from Hamas on proposed Gaza deal: White House

WASHINGTON

The US is still waiting for a response from the Palestinian group Hamas on a proposed Gaza cease-fire deal, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

"The ball is in Hamas's court as to whether they're going to accept it or not. Now we are waiting for a response from Hamas," Sullivan told reporters.

The US is in contact with Qatari mediators who conveyed the proposal from the Israeli negotiators to Hamas, Sullivan said, adding that Hamas needs to accept the proposal.

Sullivan added that CIA Director William Burns will be in the capital Doha consulting with Qatar’s prime minister as well as its emir.

"Bill Burns will be quite interested in hearing firsthand, in person, what the nature of those discussions was and where things go from here," he said.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and nearly 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.