The families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas are calling on all parties to accept them immediately the three-phase deal outlined by President Biden Friday to end almost 8 months of war and bring his relatives home.
However, in a statement on Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a permanent cease-fire in Gaza a “nonstarter” until the long-standing conditions for ending the war are met, appearing to undermine the deal announced by Biden as an Israeli. one.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, freeing all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” the statement said. “In the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is implemented.”
The US, Egypt and Qatar – which have all been involved in negotiations between Israel and Hamas since the war began – issued a joint statement on Saturday in which they called “Hamas and Israel to conclude an agreement that contains the principles outlined by President. Biden,” emphasizing that ” these principles bring together the demands of all parties in a deal that serves multiple interests and will bring immediate relief to the long-suffering Gazans as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families offering a road map for a permanent ceasefire and an end crisis.
On Friday, Mr Biden outlined Israel’s proposed deal with Hamas, saying the militant group “can no longer” carry out another large-scale attack on Israel. He demanded that Hamas make an agreement to release the remaining 100 hostages, along with the bodies of around 30 others, in exchange for a cease-fire in Gaza.
“Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal,” Mr. Biden said. “It is a roadmap for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages. This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas.”
After Mr. Biden’s speech, the families of the hostages told the Associated Press that time was running out for Israel and Hamas to accept the deal.
“We want to see people come back from Gaza alive and soon,” Gili Roman told AP. His brother, Yarden Roman-Gat, was captured and released during a week-long truce in November, but Yarden’s younger sister, Carmel Gat, remains in custody.
“This may be the last chance to save lives. Therefore, the country must now change and we hope that everyone will follow the call of Mr. Biden to accept the deal on the table, immediately. There is no other way for a better situation for our Leadership should not disappoint, but in general, all eyes should be focused on Hamas,” he said.
Talk of a ceasefire ground to a halt last month after a major push by the US and other mediators to secure a deal with the hope of averting a full Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel said the Rafah operation is important for the uprooting of Hamas fighters responsible for October 7 attack in southern Israel that sparked the war. Israel on Friday confirmed its forces were operating in the central part of the city.
The proposal was made after what the families of the hostages said was a controversial meeting on Thursday with Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, who told them that the government was not ready to sign an agreement to bring back all the hostages and that there was no plan B. .
Hanegbi said this week he expected the war to continue for another seven months, in order to destroy the military and capabilities of the Hamas government and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group.
Netanyahu has promised a “total victory” that will remove Hamas from power, dismantle the military structure and return the hostages.
Israel’s war cabinet minister Benny Gantz Saturday called the cabinet and the negotiating team for a meeting.
“We are committed to moving forward with arrangements for the return of the hostages as formulated by the negotiating team and unanimously approved by the War Cabinet, as part of a broader effort to achieve all of the war’s objectives,” Gantz said in a statement.
Many hostage families have blamed the government’s failure to secure a deal because many of the hostages died in captivity.
“We know that the Israeli government has done so much to delay the deal and cost the lives of so many survivors in captivity for weeks and weeks and months and months. They will accept those who are no longer alive,” Sharone Lifschitz told the AP. Yocheved’s mother was released during the November ceasefire, and Oded’s father is still in captivity.
The first phase of the deal announced by Mr Biden would last six weeks and he said would include a “full and complete cease-fire,” the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip and the release of some hostages – including women, the elderly and the wounded – in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The American hostages will be released at this stage, the president said. In the first phase of the proposal, Palestinian civilians would also return to their neighborhoods “in the entire Gaza Strip.” Humanitarian aid will also increase.
In the second phase, Israel and Hamas will negotiate an end to hostilities, Mr. Biden said. This phase will also include freeing all surviving hostages and withdrawing from Gaza, as long as the proposal is respected.
The third phase calls for the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from the destruction caused by the war.
Mr. Biden admitted that keeping Israel’s proposal on track will be difficult, saying there are some “details to negotiate” to move from the first phase to the second. Mr Biden said that if Hamas failed to fulfill its commitments under the deal, Israel could resume military operations.
Hamas said in a statement that it viewed the proposal outlined by Mr. Biden “positively” and asked Israel to declare an explicit commitment to an agreement that includes a permanent ceasefire, the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the exchange of prisoners. and other conditions.
While the proposal is similar to the previous one, the main difference is the readiness to end the war for an indefinite period, according to analysts. It still leaves Israel the option of renewing the war and reducing Hamas’s ability to rule, but over time, Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestine Studies Forum at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told the AP.
However, experts said Mr Biden’s speech was one of the first times in the war to give hope that it could end and bring the hostages home.
“It was a very good speech … it seems that Biden is trying to put pressure on the Israeli government, he is speaking directly to the Israeli people,” said Gershon Baskin, Middle East director at the Organization of International Communities. Israel should take to the streets to demand that the Israeli government accept it, he said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called it “an urgent hope” for lasting peace. He said on Saturday that Hamas had shown that it wanted to end the conflict.
Fighting continues in Gaza
On Saturday, the Israeli army said it killed a Hamas fighter responsible for directing attacks in Israel and the West Bank and earlier this week, an airstrike killed a Hamas fighter in central Gaza who was the head of the technology department for the group’s internal security forces. .
Also on Saturday, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News said officials from Egypt, the United States and Israel would meet in Cairo at the weekend to discuss the Rafah crossing, which has been closed since Israel seized the Palestinian side. early May. The meeting came a week after Mr Biden discussed the closure of the crossing on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
Israel launched its war on Gaza after a Hamas attack on October 7 in which the militants stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping about 250. More than 36,170 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s bombardment and attack campaign. , according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The number does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
