A ceasefire plan presented by US President Joe Biden has been endorsed by family members of Israeli captives held in Gaza who have asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly support it.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum called on the citizens of Israel to take to the streets in order to ensure the deal’s success at a weekly press conference held on Saturday.
Despite Biden’s statement at the White House the day before that Israel had presented “a comprehensive new proposal” to end the war, the forum believes Netanyahu may be blocking a deal.
In order to implement the three-phase plan described by Biden, Israeli forces will be withdrawn from all inhabited areas in Gaza and all prisoners held there will be released.
Despite Israel’s eight-month war, Hamas has indicated it is open to the proposal, raising hopes that the conflict can be ended.
A statement from the group said it was “reaffirming its readiness to engage and cooperate positively with any proposal that is built on the foundation of a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction, relocating people who have been displaced, and completing a genuine exchange of prisoners, provided that the occupation expressly commits to it”.
Hamas and Israel were jointly called upon to finalize an agreement by the US, Qatar, and Egypt in a joint statement.
According to Netanyahu, Hamas must be destroyed in order for Israel’s war on Gaza to end.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war remain unchanged: Hamas’ military and governing capabilities must be destroyed, hostages must be freed, and Gaza must stop posing a threat to Israel,” their office said.
A permanent ceasefire cannot be implemented until these conditions are met.
In addition, it stressed that Israel’s agreement to a permanent ceasefire would not be possible without these conditions being met.
There is pressure on Netanyahu from within his own government, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Netanyahu is being blackmailed by a minority which threatens the deal, and we must support it instead of leaving it to extremists,” said a spokesperson.
An article on social media platform X by American news outlet Axios claimed that Israel’s ultranationalist ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have told Netanyahu that if Biden’s proposal for a hostage deal is approved, they will quit the coalition and topple the government.
The US and Israel, both staunch allies, have made it clear they do not want Hamas to be allowed to serve any kind of political role in Gaza in the future. Al-Arian commented on this “major contradiction” in Israel’s demands.
“How can we reach an agreement with Hamas while at the same time negotiating with them? He told Al Jazeera that he didn’t know how you could eliminate them as a political force while also negotiating a solution which everyone could agree on.
The Palestinians have consistently rejected Israel remaining as an occupying force in some parts of Gaza, which he said would also hinder a deal.
Former Israeli foreign ministry director Alon Liel said Biden’s announcement was “wonderful news for the Israelis wishing to end the conflict”.
Washington is sending a “mixed message.” “What surprised me was how the ceasefire proposal was described as an Israeli offer.” As Liel said, the offer appears to be more American than Israeli in nature. This contradicts many of Netanyahu’s recent statements.
While Palestinian Islamic Jihad expressed “suspicions” about Biden’s proposal, it called for the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Gaza as part of a “cessation of aggression.”
Middle Eastern leaders are lobbied by blinken
During Biden’s presentation, Israeli artillery shells hit residential buildings in Gaza City’s northern neighbourhoods, killing several Palestinians, according to Israeli officials.
According to Palestinian TV channel Al-Aqsa, an Israeli strike early in the morning also killed a journalist, Ola al-Dahdouh.
Rafah was also pounded with tanks and artillery by Israeli forces, and witnesses in Rafah’s eastern and central areas reported intense shelling by Israeli forces.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with Saudi Arabian, Jordanian, and Turkish diplomats amid ongoing Israeli bombardment to gather support for a new Gaza ceasefire plan.
It was reported that Blinken called the Saudi Foreign Minister to discuss the latest proposal, according to the Saudi state news agency.
As he returned from a NATO meeting in Prague, Blinken “emphasised Hamas’s need to accept the deal without delay”, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Miller added that Blinken stressed the importance of the proposal to both Israelis and Palestinians, as well as region’s long-term security.
It is likely that a deal would pass in parliament even if the right-wing factions in the governing coalition rebel, as opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Netanyahu to agree to the deal.
In ignoring President Biden’s consequential speech, the government of Israel will be guilty of inaction. On Saturday, Lapid posted a social media message saying that there was a deal on the table.
Both Israel and Hamas have been under pressure to accept the deal by families of the people held captive in Gaza, who have also called on all parties to support the proposal outlined by Biden as soon as possible.
Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia’s incoming president, welcomed Vice President Biden’s ceasefire proposal as a positive step. A ceasefire in Gaza can be maintained by his country’s peacekeeping forces if necessary.
A security conference in Singapore on Saturday was told that if necessary, and if requested by the UN, significant peacekeeping forces will be deployed to maintain and monitor this prospective ceasefire as well as to provide protection and security for all parties.
Thousands of people have been reported dead under the rubble and presumed dead as a result of Israeli attacks on Gaza since the start of the war. About 1,140 people were killed in a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel when Israel launched its assault on the besieged territory.
Timenews1 provided that news.
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