Sunak urges Hamas to accept Biden ceasefire plan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for Hamas to accept a framework deal for ending the Gaza war adding the UK would then “flood” the war-torn region with “far more aid”.

Sunak said he believed U.S. President Joe Biden’s three-phased plan is “welcome news.”

On the election campaign trail in Redcar, Sunak said: “I hope Hamas take this opportunity to conclude the deal that’s on the table, which will ensure that the hostages can be released and be back with their families, that we can flood Gaza with far more aid than we’ve been getting in.”

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His message echoed that of Labour leader Keir Starmer who had earlier said “This is our message: that ceasefire needs to be in place, it needs to be in place straight away, and it needs to provide the space for hostages to come out… But also aid needs to get in – desperately needed aid.”

In a video statement posted on X, Lord Cameron also said: “It’s absolutely vital that we use the stop in the fighting to build a sustainable permanent ceasefire and a political solution to this long-running problem. And that is possible if everyone plays their part.”

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Meanwhile, an aide to Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel had accepted a framework deal for ending the Gaza war, which has been advanced by U.S. President Joe Biden.

Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor described the phased deal as flawed and in need of much more work.

But in an interview with the Sunday Times, Falk said Biden’s plan was “a deal we agreed to — it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them”.

“There are a lot of details to be worked out,” he said, stressing Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organisation” were still central to any deal.

Lord Cameron added: “Clearly, a number of conditions are going to have to be fulfilled. It’s clear that Gaza cannot be ruled by Hamas and that Israel needs guarantees about security. But it’s also clear we need to support the Palestinian Authority and set out the parameters of what a Palestinian state would look like.”

He concluded: “All of us have to seize this opportunity and stop the killing and bring this conflict to an end.”

But the Israeli prime minister insisted there would be no permanent truce until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed and all hostages released.

Two far-right Israeli ministers -Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – threatened to collapse the governing coalition if Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza ceasefire.

Smotrich said he told Netanyahu he would “not be part of a government that agrees to the proposed outline and ends the war without destroying Hamas and bringing back all the hostages”.

Echoing his words Ben-Gvir said “the deal.. means the end of the war and the abandonment of the goal to destroy Hamas. This is a reckless deal, which constitutes a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the State of Israel”.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid pledged to back the government if Mr Netanyahu supported the plan.

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv, calling on the Israeli government to accept Mr Biden’s proposed plan.

The Israeli proposal features three phases, starting with a six-week “full and complete ceasefire”.

The Israeli government would withdraw its forces from populated areas of Gaza, the AP news agency reported yesterday, and Hamas would release a number of hostages in exchange for the release of some Palestinian prisoners.

Humanitarian assistance would surge during the first phase, with 600 trucks allowed into Gaza each day.

In the second phase, Hamas would release all remaining living hostages, and Israel would withdraw its forces from other areas of Gaza.

“And as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, the temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposals, ‘the cessation of hostilities permanently’,” Biden said.

In the third phase, parties would launch a rebuilding programme in Gaza.

But in a statement on their website Hamas appeared to veer away from backing the deal.

The statement and the American President’s call to reach an agreement “is positive, but an agreement cannot be reached with mere hopes. We need clear texts that achieve what we want and what we said, and that the Israeli accepts them openly and frankly and not in a way of evasion, or a way through which he can evade any commitment.”