US, other countries call for Israel, Hamas to reach cease-fire, hostage deal

The leaders of 18 countries with citizens held as hostages by Hamas in the Gaza Strip issued a joint statement Thursday calling for the U.S.-designated terrorist group and Israel to agree to a temporary cease-fire proposal that is aimed at ending the war.

President Biden last week announced an Israeli-proposed cease-fire and hostage release deal and called on Hamas to accept the terms.

“There is no time to lose. We call on Hamas to close this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and begin the process of releasing our citizens,” the statement read.

“At this decisive moment, we call on the leaders of Israel as well as Hamas to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal and bring relief to the families of our hostages, as well as those on both sides of this terrible conflict, including the civilian populations.  It is time for the war to end and this deal is the necessary starting point.” 

The grouping of countries issued a similar statement in April amid intense negotiations for a hostage release and cease-fire deal that ultimately broke down.

Hamas is believed to be holding 124 hostages. More than 30 of them are believed to be dead, although that number could be much higher. Hamas holds bodies of those it kidnapped as bargaining chips in negotiations with Israel.

Hamas kidnapped more than 250 people from southern Israel when the group launched a shocking attack Oct. 7, where it killed about 1,200 people. A week-long cease-fire in November allowed for the release of more than 100 people held hostage.

Most of the hostages are either Israeli or hold dual citizenship, while some are citizens of other countries. This includes the U.S., Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

Israel’s proposal, which has been transmitted to Hamas, is structured in three phases that would first require Hamas to release hostages — alive or dead — that the group kidnapped on Oct. 7. It also involves the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The hostage release is expected to take place over a six-week truce, allowing for a period of calm to relieve a humanitarian crisis on Palestinians in the strip and create space for follow-on negotiations for a permanent end to the war.

Hamas has so far rejected the proposal, saying the written terms they received varied from the guarantees Biden talked about in his speech May 31.

“After examining the content of the Israeli paper, it became clear that it is a paper that does not lay the correct foundations for the required agreement, as it does not guarantee a permanent ceasefire, but rather a temporary ceasefire, and it does not closely link the three stages stipulated,” Hamas said in a statement.

“On the contrary, it destroyed the bridges that transfer the agreement from one stage to another in order to disrupt the unity of the agreement with all its stages and reduce it to one stage in which the aggression stops temporarily and its forces remain on the land of the Gaza Strip,” the group continued.

Hamas is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union, among other countries.