White House debunks Hamas's proposal for a five-year truce in exchange for a Palestinian state

MADRID, 26 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The White House has reduced credibility to the proposal of a representative of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), according to which the Palestinian militia would be willing to accept a truce of five years or more in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"Absolutely not. There is not going to be a Palestinian State with Hamas in control. It is a terrorist organization," said White House National Security spokesman John Kirby in a press conference.

In particular, the truce would include "the withdrawal of the occupation forces from all the 1967 territories," declared Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, according to information collected by the newspaper 'Filastín'.

Mardawi has conditioned the release of hostages on Israel's "commitment" to withdraw its troops from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners and any other concessions on its part on "the complete withdrawal, the return of the displaced to the north and the reconstruction (of the fringe)".

Likewise, the American spokesman has accused Hamas of wanting to "move the goalposts." "They could end the war now, and if they really believed in a state for the Palestinian people, they would not have violated the ceasefire that was in effect on October 6, they would have laid down their weapons, they would have let the hostages go."

In addition, he has reiterated the United States' support for the two-state solution: "You have heard the president (Joe Biden) talk a lot about it. But it has to be done through direct negotiations between the parties: Israel and the Palestinian Authority."