Jakarta. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently held talks with President-Elect Prabowo Subianto in Jordan, shortly after the UN Security Council adopted a three-phase ceasefire proposal to end the Gaza war. 

Blinken said that he and Prabowo had talked about the US-sponsored ceasefire proposal. The US is hoping for the militant group Hamas to accept the proposal, which includes a hostage release deal. 

“Met with Indonesian Defense Minister and President-Elect @prabowo, as well as @MalaysiaMFA Foreign Minister Dato’ Seri Mohamad Hasan here in Jordan. We talked about the importance of Hamas accepting the ceasefire proposal that is on the table,” Blinken posted on his social media platform X on Wednesday. 

The US appears to have a stance that the fate of the ceasefire plan rests in Hamas’s hands. On Tuesday evening, a Jakarta-based American diplomat made similar remarks, saying that the ball is in Hamas’s court for the ceasefire resolution actually to make progress. 

“The next step [after we adopt the resolution is for] Hamas to say yes. If Hamas says yes, the fighting stops,” Michael F Kleine, the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the US Mission to Indonesia, told reporters in Jakarta. 

Kleine added: “If Hamas says yes, the humanitarian assistance flows, hostages go home, and move on to the process that starts with a ceasefire that moves onto a permanent cessation of hostilities. That means the end of the war.”

A separate ministerial press statement revealed what Prabowo had talked about with Blinken. Prabowo, who currently serves as the defense minister, welcomed the adoption of the ceasefire resolution. 

“Indonesia is ready to work with the US, Qatar, and Egypt to make sure that the negotiations take place, and achieve a permanent ceasefire as well as a just and everlasting peace in Palestine,” Prabowo told Blinken, as reported by the press. 

“An immediate, full and complete ceasefire is pivotal to revive the peace process,” Prabowo said.

Earlier this week, the UN Security Council adopted a three-phase ceasefire resolution after most of its members approved the document. The council’s permanent member Russia abstained from voting. 

The first phase of this resolution calls for a six-week ceasefire plan. It also urges the release of hostages, and for Israel to withdraw its forces from populated areas in Gaza. It will then progress to a permanent end to hostilities in the second phase which sees the release of the remaining captives and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. The third phase is a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza. According to Reuters, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said his group would accept the proposal, but it was up to Washington to make sure that Israel abides by it. 

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