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TEL AVIV — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a U.S.-backed proposal for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release, saying that the U.N. Security Council's vote made it "as clear as it possibly could be" that the world supports the plan.
"Everyone's vote is in, except for one vote, and that's Hamas," Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv after meeting with Israeli officials. He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reaffirmed his commitment to the proposal when they met late Monday.
Hamas welcomed Biden's initial announcement of the plan, as well as the U.N. resolution endorsing it, but has yet to submit its official response. Blinken said Hamas' response to the U.N. vote was a "hopeful sign," but that mediators are still awaiting word from the group's leaders in Gaza.
"That's what counts. And that's what we don't have yet. And that's why I say we're waiting to see it. Everyone has said yes, except for Hamas," he said.
Hamas said earlier Tuesday that one of its commanders in the occupied West Bank was killed in a clash with Israeli forces while Israel said four soldiers were killed in an explosion in Rafah.
Also Tuesday, the U.N. human rights office said both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in connection with a deadly raid by Israeli forces that freed four hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians over the weekend.
Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 36,730 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Palestinians are facing widespread hunger because the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies. U.N. agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.
Israel launched the war after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.
