A senior Hamas official, Mr Osama Hamdansaid today that the Israeli response to Hamas’ proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza is “generally negative”.

“The mediators (in Qatar) conveyed to us on Tuesday night Israel’s position” on its proposal Hamas“which is overall negative and does not meet the expectations of our people,” the official of the Palestinian Islamist organization said during a press conference in Beirut.

Hamdan considers Israel’s response to be “a setback” in relation to Israeli positions “which were previously conveyed to the mediators” and that “it may hinder the negotiations and perhaps lead them to an impasse.” The official did not elaborate further on the content of the Israeli response.

Mediators — the United States, Qatar and Egypt — are trying to broker a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas that has been raging since Oct. 7.

Hamas says it is ready — in a new proposal delivered last week to mediators — for a six-week truce during which 42 hostages held in Gaza could be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

It also calls for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and a greater influx of aid, Hamdan stressed.

The Hamas official’s remarks come as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken began today from Saudi Arabia a new Middle East tour focusing on efforts to achieve a humanitarian truce in Gaza.

Blinken said he would consider efforts to reach “an immediate ceasefire agreement that would guarantee the release of all remaining hostages” and intensify efforts to increase humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory, which is on the brink of famine.

Hamas held on October 7 from Gauze an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians.

In retaliation, the Israeli army launched military operations in the Gaza Strip, which have already killed 31,923 people, mostly civilians, and caused a humanitarian disaster in the besieged Palestinian enclave.