The Palestinian Islamist movement "Hamas" has not yet given its response to the peace plan presented on Friday by US President Joe Biden to end the war in the Gaza Strip, said White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, quoted by Reuters, BTA writes.
Sullivan said the United States is waiting for a response from "Hamas" through the Qatari intermediaries.
Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Bill Burns will visit Qatar for consultations, he added.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that his country had handed over to "Hamas" Israel's cease-fire proposal, which echoes Biden's three-step plan, but called on Israel to articulate a unified position that is accepted by the "whole of government," i.e., all parties in the broad governing coalition.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamist movement, for its part, said that Israel must make a clear commitment to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a complete withdrawal of its armed forces from the strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, reiterated that there can be no lasting peace as long as the group "Hamas" not be destroyed.
He said this amid a split in Israel's ruling coalition over Biden's plan.