The Israeli prime minister said that any agreement would allow Tel Aviv to resume fighting “until its war aims are met.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that a Gaza ceasefire plan supported by US President Joe Biden will facilitate the release of hostages “without harming the other aims of the war.”
Netanyahu’s office released a statement indicating that his refusal to halt the Gaza offensive “is what brought Hamas back to the negotiating table.”
He asserted that the “framework agreed by Israel and welcomed by President Biden will enable Israel to return hostages without compromising the other aims of the war.”
The Israeli prime minister added that any agreement would allow Tel Aviv to resume fighting “until its war aims are met.”
He also emphasized that “weapons smuggling to Hamas from the Gaza-Egypt border will not be possible,” and pledged that “Israel will maximize the number of living hostages returned from Hamas captivity.”
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Biden’s Proposal
In May, Biden mentioned that Israel had proposed a three-phase plan to end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.
This plan includes a ceasefire, a prisoner exchange deal, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Israeli Channel 13, citing Mossad sources, reported that Israeli officials are optimistic about reaching a deal to retrieve Israeli captives from Gaza.
According to these sources, Israel views the current moment as “opportune” for negotiating with Hamas, with security authorities advising political leaders to take advantage of it.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid questioned Netanyahu’s statement, asking, “What is the benefit of these provocative statements when we are at a critical moment in the negotiations, on which the lives of the prisoners depend?”
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Staggering Death Toll
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 38,098 Palestinians have been killed, and 87,705 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu, AJA)
