Israeli tanks and artillery fire continued to pound the destroyed Gaza Strip and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on the destruction of the Palestinian group Hamas as part of a ceasefire plan put forward by US President Joe Biden, raising questions on the prospect of an agreement.
During a White House news conference on Friday, Biden said Israel has presented “a comprehensive new proposal” to end the war. The three-phase plan seeks to implement a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that involves the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of all Israelis held captive in the strip.
Hamas has indicated it is open to the proposal, raising hopes for a halt to Israel’s eight-month war.
In a statement, the group said it “reaffirms its readiness to engage and cooperate positively with any proposal based on the foundation of a permanent ceasefire, the complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of displaced people to their homes and in concluding a genuine prisoner exchange agreement, provided that the occupation announces its explicit commitment to this.”
But on Saturday, Netanyahu was adamant in declaring that for Israel’s war in Gaza to end, Hamas must be destroyed.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’ military and government capabilities, the release of all hostages and the guarantee that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” his office said in a communicated.
It stated that these conditions must be met, “before a permanent ceasefire is established.”
“The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are met is a failure,” he added.
Abdullah al-Arian, a history professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, pointed out a “major contradiction” in the demand, with Israel and its faithful ally, the US, saying they do not want a future in Gaza in which Hamas has any type of influence. political role left.
“At the same time, this is an agreement that would have to be reached through negotiations with Hamas, so how do you do that? How to eliminate them as a political force and at the same time reach a negotiated solution that is agreed by all parties,” he told Al Jazeera.
Another “major obstacle” to a possible agreement would be Israel remaining as an occupying force in some parts of Gaza, which, according to him, the Palestinians have continually rejected.
Alon Liel, former director of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said Biden’s announcement was “music to the ears of Israelis who want to end the war.
But there is a “mixed message coming from Washington again,” he told Al Jazeera. “The surprising thing was that [the ceasefire proposal] it was described as an Israeli offering. This contradicts many things Netanyahu has said recently; it looks more like an American offer presented as Israeli,” said Liel.
The armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in turn, expressed “suspicion” of the plan announced by Biden, saying that the “cessation of aggression” must involve the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Blinken lobbies Middle East leaders
Even as Biden presented the new plan, Israel continued its deadly attacks on Gaza, with artillery fire hitting residential buildings in the northern neighborhoods of Gaza City, killing several Palestinians.
Another early morning Israeli strike in Gaza City also killed a journalist, identified as Ola al-Dahdouh, according to the Palestinian TV channel Al-Aqsa.
Israeli forces also attacked Rafah in southern Gaza with tanks and artillery, while witnesses in eastern and central Rafah described intense artillery bombardment.
In the shadow of continued Israeli bombing, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held discussions with top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey amid efforts to rally support for the new Gaza ceasefire plan.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud received a phone call from Blinken, during which they discussed the latest proposal, the Saudi state news agency said.
Blinken, in his shuttle diplomacy in the region, has invested time in Saudi Arabia’s engagement, hoping that the prospect of Israel normalizing relations with the kingdom will encourage moderation in Netanyahu’s far-right government.
According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken “emphasized that Hamas should accept the agreement without delay” in those phone calls from his plane when he returned from a NATO meeting in Prague.
“[Blinken] stressed that the proposal is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the long-term security of the region,” Miller added.
Meanwhile, Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto hailed Biden’s ceasefire proposal as a step in the right direction. He said his country is willing to send peacekeeping troops to maintain a ceasefire in Gaza if necessary.
“When necessary and when requested by the UN, we are prepared to contribute significant peacekeeping forces to maintain and monitor this potential ceasefire, as well as provide protection and security to all parties and all sides,” he said in a security conference in Singapore.
Israeli attacks on Gaza since the start of the war have killed at least 36,379 people and injured another 82,407, with thousands missing under the rubble and presumed dead. Israel launched its attack on the besieged territory after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel killed around 1,140 people.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
