Amman, April 30 (RHC)-- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas to accept a temporary ceasefire proposal put forward by Tel Aviv, telling reporters in Amman: “Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel. And in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas. They have to decide, and they have to decide quickly.”

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan strongly criticized Blinken’s comment.  Hamdan told Al Jazeera: “Stopping the attacks against Palestinians is not generous.  The attack itself is a crime, so when you stop a crime, you can’t claim that it’s a generous action from the Israeli side.” 

Meanwhile, Israel is continuing to attack Rafah and other parts of Gaza.  One Palestinian woman, Umm Fayez Abu Taha, spoke to a reporter in Rafah while holding an infant after surviving an Israeli airstrike.  “We took her from under the rubble, thank God.  She is 2 months old, and thank God.  Was she holding a rocket, or was she standing near tanks?  What’s her fault?  What would her fault have been if she had been injured or martyred?  What would her fault have been? … The entire world is seeing what’s happening to us. They carry out negotiations and things, but we feel like this is all in vain.  It’s like they’re giving us some anesthetic, not more. They carry out negotiations while Israel strikes.  Look at us with some compassion, with some humanity.  Fear God.  This is all we ask for.  We’re not asking for much.  Just end the war, nothing more.”