The United States, Germany, France and Britain have called on the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement to accept the plan recently presented by US President Joe Biden to end the war in Gaza.
They fully support the comprehensive proposal, according to a joint letter published by the Élysée Palace on Thursday evening.
On the sidelines of the D-Day commemoration in Normandy, France, the leaders of the four countries called for Hamas to express its full agreement and for the plan to be implemented immediately.
The proposal laid out by Biden last week aims to end the Gaza war in three phases. Firstly, it envisages a complete and unrestricted ceasefire lasting six weeks. This is to lead to a permanent ceasefire in a second phase. According to the draft, the conditions for this are to be negotiated during the ceasefire.
However, Hamas has stated that it will only agree to a deal if an immediate and permanent ceasefire is agreed.
Germany, the US, Britain and France also called for greater support for the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Mustafa.
The four countries emphasized the importance of maintaining the stability of Israel's northern neighbour Lebanon. They wanted to support de-escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese border and called on all sides to exercise restraint.
The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya al-Sinwar, has rejected a ceasefire agreement with Israel that would provide for the disarmament of his terrorist militia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
"Hamas will not surrender its guns or sign a proposal that asks for that," al-Sinwar, who is staying at an unknown location in the Gaza Strip, is reported to have told his organization's negotiators, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Arab mediators who are in contact with the Hamas negotiators.
Hamas is cautious about the current plan. It believes that its demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip has not been duly taken into account.
There are fears that Israel would "manoeuvre as usual" under these circumstances, a person familiar with the talks told dpa on Thursday.
