Cairo: Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi urged Hamas on Monday to accept an Egyptian proposal to end the fighting between the militants in Gaza and Israel that has killed almost 600 Palestinians.
"The Egyptian proposal clearly calls for a ceasefire. We hope Hamas accepts it," he told reporters after meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Cairo, where US Secretary of State John Kerry also arrived to push for a truce.
Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal last week but Hamas spurned it, demanding a guarantee that the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza, an impoverished coastal strip, be lifted.
Hamas says that would leave the decision up to Israel, which enforced the blockade after militants seized one of its soldiers in 2006.
"Everything must be simultaneous: ending the (Israeli) aggression and ending the siege," he added.
"The Egyptian proposal clearly calls for a ceasefire. We hope Hamas accepts it," he told reporters after meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Cairo, where US Secretary of State John Kerry also arrived to push for a truce.
Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal last week but Hamas spurned it, demanding a guarantee that the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza, an impoverished coastal strip, be lifted.
Hamas says that would leave the decision up to Israel, which enforced the blockade after militants seized one of its soldiers in 2006.
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"Everything must be simultaneous: ending the (Israeli) aggression and ending the siege," he added.
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