Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday rejected the most recent cease-fire deal proposed by Hamas, calling its calls for “ludicrous,” and mentioned Israel would transfer ahead with plans for an floor offensive in Rafah, the southern Gazan metropolis the place greater than half the enclave’s inhabitants is sheltering.
Nonetheless, Mr. Netanyahu signaled he was open to extra talks. He introduced he was dispatching an Israeli delegation again to Qatar, the place mediation efforts have been going down.
The prime minister’s response got here a day after Hamas offered a counteroffer to Israel aimed toward securing a cease-fire and an trade of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. In a press release, Hamas mentioned it had offered to mediators in Qatar what it referred to as a “complete imaginative and prescient” for a truce within the five-month struggle, which has devastated the Gaza Strip and has price at the very least 30,000 lives there. It didn’t give any particulars of its new proposal.
Inside hours, Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned that “Hamas is constant to carry to unrealistic calls for.” Then on Friday, Mr. Netanyahu launched a second assertion saying, “Relating to the hostages — Hamas’s calls for are nonetheless ludicrous,” with out elaborating.
Talks on a truce have been stalled for weeks, regardless of the efforts of officers from the USA, Egypt and Qatar to dealer a deal. Hamas has insisted on a whole Israeli withdrawal and a everlasting cease-fire earlier than a hostage-for-prisoners trade may happen. Israel has rejected these situations.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, talking throughout a go to to Vienna, confirmed that Hamas had issued a counterproposal however mentioned that he couldn’t reveal the main points.
The USA is working “intensively” with Israel, Qatar and Egypt “to bridge the remaining gaps,” he mentioned. Israel’s choice to ship a negotiating staff to Qatar “displays the sense of risk — and urgency — to get an settlement.”
A weeklong cease-fire deal was efficiently negotiated in late November, when Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in preventing and an trade of greater than 100 hostages and 240 imprisoned Palestinians. Diplomats tried to increase the truce nevertheless it collapsed and preventing resumed in early December.
Mr. Netanyahu has come underneath rising worldwide stress to finish the struggle and restrict civilian deaths. President Biden has turn into extra forceful in latest days in calling for Israel to ease the plight of civilians in Gaza, who’re going through extreme starvation and proceed to die in Israeli airstrikes.
The American president has urged Mr. Netanyahu to not proceed along with his plans to launch a serious floor offensive in Rafah, the place tons of of 1000’s of displaced individuals are crammed into momentary shelters.
However Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to reject worldwide stress to chorus from a floor operation in Rafah, which Israel says is likely one of the final main strongholds of Hamas. On Friday, Mr. Netanyahu mentioned he had authorised plans for an army operation in Rafah and that the Israeli forces had been additionally making ready “for the evacuation of the inhabitants.”
Michael Crowley contributed reporting.
