Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that any ceasefire agreement with Gaza must allow Israel to continue fighting until its goals are achieved. His comments came as talks were expected to resume over a US plan aimed at ending the nine-month conflict.
According to two Hamas officials, the Palestinian militant group is waiting for Israel’s response to its latest proposal, five days after accepting a key component of the plan.The three-phase plan, presented by US President Joe Biden in May and mediated by Qatar and Egypt, seeks to end the war and secure the release of approximately 120 Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Hamas has reportedly dropped its demand for Israel to commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing an agreement, instead allowing negotiations to achieve this throughout the six-week first phase.
However, Netanyahu insisted that the deal must not hinder Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives, which include dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and returning the hostages, are met. “The plan that has been agreed to by Israel and which has been welcomed by President Biden will allow Israel to return hostages without infringing on the other objectives of the war,” Netanyahu said.
The proposed deal must also prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas via the Gaza-Egypt border and prohibit the return of thousands of armed militants to northern Gaza, according to Netanyahu.
US Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns is expected to meet with the Qatari prime minister and the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs in Doha on Wednesday, while also visiting Cairo this week alongside an Israeli delegation.
Fighting continued inside Gaza, with the Israeli military renewing orders for residents and displaced families in several Gaza City districts to evacuate their homes.
Palestinian health officials reported that an Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia, on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, killed at least 10 people, with many wounded and others still missing.
The latest talks follow months of unsuccessful attempts to reach a ceasefire, with negotiations repeatedly leading nowhere after Washington claimed a deal was close.
In Israel, protesters took to the streets nationwide to pressure the government to agree to the Gaza ceasefire deal and secure the return of hostages still held in Gaza. They blocked rush-hour traffic at major intersections, picketed politicians’ homes, and briefly set fire to tires on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police intervened.
Palestinian health officials reported that at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, including Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister of labour, whose wife and children were killed in May, and three others killed in a strike at a church-run school sheltering families in western Gaza City.
The Israeli military stated that it had taken steps to minimize civilian casualties before striking militants hiding in the school and a nearby weapon-making facility. In Rafah, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, Israeli tanks deepened their raids, with health officials recovering three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.
The conflict began on Oct 7 when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Gaza health officials report that more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military onslaught, leaving the coastal enclave largely in ruins.
According to two Hamas officials, the Palestinian militant group is waiting for Israel’s response to its latest proposal, five days after accepting a key component of the plan.The three-phase plan, presented by US President Joe Biden in May and mediated by Qatar and Egypt, seeks to end the war and secure the release of approximately 120 Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Hamas has reportedly dropped its demand for Israel to commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing an agreement, instead allowing negotiations to achieve this throughout the six-week first phase.
However, Netanyahu insisted that the deal must not hinder Israel from resuming fighting until its war objectives, which include dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and returning the hostages, are met. “The plan that has been agreed to by Israel and which has been welcomed by President Biden will allow Israel to return hostages without infringing on the other objectives of the war,” Netanyahu said.
The proposed deal must also prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas via the Gaza-Egypt border and prohibit the return of thousands of armed militants to northern Gaza, according to Netanyahu.
US Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns is expected to meet with the Qatari prime minister and the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs in Doha on Wednesday, while also visiting Cairo this week alongside an Israeli delegation.
Fighting continued inside Gaza, with the Israeli military renewing orders for residents and displaced families in several Gaza City districts to evacuate their homes.
Palestinian health officials reported that an Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia, on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, killed at least 10 people, with many wounded and others still missing.
The latest talks follow months of unsuccessful attempts to reach a ceasefire, with negotiations repeatedly leading nowhere after Washington claimed a deal was close.
In Israel, protesters took to the streets nationwide to pressure the government to agree to the Gaza ceasefire deal and secure the return of hostages still held in Gaza. They blocked rush-hour traffic at major intersections, picketed politicians’ homes, and briefly set fire to tires on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before police intervened.
Palestinian health officials reported that at least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, including Ehab Al-Ghussein, the Hamas-appointed deputy minister of labour, whose wife and children were killed in May, and three others killed in a strike at a church-run school sheltering families in western Gaza City.
The Israeli military stated that it had taken steps to minimize civilian casualties before striking militants hiding in the school and a nearby weapon-making facility. In Rafah, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, Israeli tanks deepened their raids, with health officials recovering three bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.
The conflict began on Oct 7 when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Gaza health officials report that more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military onslaught, leaving the coastal enclave largely in ruins.