US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood has said that Israel accepted the US proposal for a three-phase deal between Hamas and Israel, Al Jazeera reports.

“This proposal is the best opportunity we have right now, to bring at least a temporary halt to this fighting to be able to get more assistance in, get hostages released, and all the other things are included in the proposal. So we want to work hard to get that done,” said Wood, speaking at the UN headquarters in New York City.

“We want to put pressure on Hamas to accept this deal. So far, it hasn’t accepted this deal,” he claimed.

When prompted by a journalist who said that Israel has not formally accepted the proposal, either, Wood answered: “Israel’s accepted the deal. It’s Hamas. Hamas needs to accept this deal.”