TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The U.S.-backed Eight months of war in Gaza The merits of a ceasefire agreement were thrown into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was only willing to agree to a “partial” ceasefire that would not end the war, sparking an outcry from families of hostages held by Hamas.
“We are ready to make a partial agreement to return some people. This is no secret,” the Israeli leader said in an interview broadcast late Sunday by Israel’s conservative Channel 14, a supporter of Prime Minister Netanyahu, about the roughly 120 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are determined to continue the war after the pause in order to achieve our goal of destroying Hamas. I’m not going to give up on that point.”
Netanyahu’s comments were not significantly different from what he has said previously about the terms of an agreement, but they came at a sensitive time when Israel and Hamas appear to have grown further apart over the latest cease-fire proposal and could represent a new setback for mediators trying to end the war.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments: Transaction Overview U.S. President Joe Biden detailed the plan late last month. Biden characterized it as an Israeli plan, with some in Israel calling it the “Netanyahu deal.” Biden’s remarks were: further straining relations between Israel and the United StatesIran, the country’s biggest ally, has launched a major diplomatic effort to reach the latest ceasefire proposal.
The three-phase plan would see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Conflict and mistrust continue Conflict continues between Israel and Hamas over the implementation of the agreement.
Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there is a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, both of which President Biden said he included when he announced his latest proposal last month.
But Netanyahu has said Israel will still do all it can to destroy Hamas’ military and governing power and to prevent it from ever carrying out another attack like the October 7 attack. A complete Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, where Hamas’ top leadership and most of its forces remain intact, would almost certainly allow the group to take control of the area and rearm.
In an interview, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: The current battle phase is overThis will force Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront militant groups in Lebanon. Hezbollah“New fronts may open up, but that doesn’t mean the war in Gaza is over,” he said.
During the first six-week phase, the two sides are to negotiate a second-phase agreement, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining hostages, including male soldiers, and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, to make the temporary ceasefire permanent.
Hamas appears to be concerned that Israel might resume the war if it returned the weakest hostages, and even if the war did not resume, Israel could make demands at that stage of the negotiations that were not included in the original agreement and that Hamas would find unacceptable, and resume the war if Hamas rejects them.
Netanyahu’s comments reinforced those concerns. After they were aired, Hamas said they represented “a clear confirmation of the prime minister’s rejection of the US-backed agreement.” UN Security Council Support.
In a statement late Sunday after Netanyahu’s lengthy television interview, the Palestinian militant group said the prime minister’s position was “in contrast” to what the U.S. government said Israel had endorsed. The group said its insistence that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip “was an unavoidable prerequisite to thwart attempts to evade, deceive and perpetuate a war of aggression and extermination against our people.”
Netanyahu fired back, saying in a statement from his office that Hamas was opposed to the agreement and that Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until all 120 hostages were returned.
Hamas welcomed the outlines of the U.S. plan but proposed so-called “modifications.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to the region earlier this month that some of Hamas’ demands were “feasible” but some were not, without providing details.
Both Netanyahu and Hamas Motivations for Persisting a Devastating War This comes despite devastating damage to Gaza’s civilians and growing anger in Israel that, months later, Israel has not achieved its goal of returning the hostages and defeating Hamas.
Hostage families have grown increasingly frustrated with what they see as political considerations behind Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reluctance to move forward with a deal, and a group representing the families blamed his comments on Israel’s rejection of the latest ceasefire proposal.
“This is the abandonment of 120 hostages and a violation of the state’s moral duty towards its people,” the statement said, saying Prime Minister Netanyahu was responsible for the return of all the hostages.
In a cross-border attack on October 7, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 prisoners, including women, children and the elderly. A temporary ceasefire in late November freed dozens of them, but Israeli officials say about a third of the remaining 120 hostages are dead.
According to the Hamas-controlled area’s health ministry, more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory war, which has sparked a humanitarian crisis and forced most of the territory’s 2.3 million people to flee.
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Magdy reported from Cairo.
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See AP’s Gaza war coverage below: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
