John Kerry Presents New Hamas Ceasefire Proposal as Fighting Threatens West Bank

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Jul 25, 2014

John Kerry Presents New Hamas Ceasefire Proposal as Fighting Threatens West Bank

The violence in Gaza and Israel has continued for 18 days and again, the conflicting regions have been presented with a ceasefire proposal. The new proposal comes as the violence could be spreading to West Bank and Jerusalem. 

Secretary of State John Kerry offered Israelis and Hamas the new ceasefire that calls for seven days of halted rocket fire in hopes that a permanent truce could be reached during that time. According to the Washington Post, the ceasefire may not require Israel’s ground invasion to retreat, nor would the proposal ban the continued destruction of Hamas tunnels. 

Those conditions leads many to believe that Hamas will reject the new ceasefire proposal, as the group did with Egypt’s proposed truce. The proposal does likely hold small incentives for Hamas as well, such as the release of some Palestinian soldiers; specific incentives have not been released.  

Israel has said that it will not respond to the ceasefire proposal until Hamas does, but Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States said that he does not believe Israel will be interested in the deal. “If the ceasefire proposal calls for a five or a seven-day ceasefire that enables Hamas to regroup, reestablish its communication systems and replenish its ammunition, then I don’t think Israel will accept that.”

Over 800 people have now been killed in the conflict; the majority of those killed were Palestinian civilians, including many children. 

Publication date: July 25, 2014



John Kerry Presents New Hamas Ceasefire Proposal as Fighting Threatens West Bank