Gaza mediators urge Israel Hamas to accept truce plan
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories Gaza mediators Egyptian, and US mediators called on Israel and Hamas Saturday to “finalize” the truce deal outlined by US President Joe Biden, as Israeli forces pounded Rafah in southern Gaza. dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd dfd
Fighting has raged in the besieged Gaza Strip since Biden said Israel was offering a new roadmap toward a full ceasefire.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since insisted his country would pursue the war until it had achieved all its aims.
He reiterated that position on Saturday, saying that “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”
Gaza mediators it “views positively” the Israeli plan laid out by Biden on Friday.
In a joint statement, Qatar, the United States, and Egypt said that “as mediators in the ongoing discussions to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and detainees,” they “call on both Hamas and Israel to finalize the agreement embodying the principles outlined by President Joe Biden.”
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The US president said Israel’s three-stage offer would begin with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza.
It would see the “release of a number of hostages” in exchange for “hundreds of Palestinian prisoners” held in Israeli jails.
Israel and the Palestinians would then negotiate for a lasting ceasefire, with the truce to continue so long as talks are ongoing, Biden said.
“It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin.”
Gaza mediators Netanyahu offered ‘safety net’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey on Friday to press the deal, and on Saturday spoke with the Qatari, Egyptian, and Emirati ministers.
UN chief Antonio Guterres “strongly hopes” the latest development “will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace,” a spokesman said.
Netanyahu took issue with Biden’s presentation of what was on the table, insisting that according to the “exact outline proposed by Israel,” the transition from one stage to the next was “conditional” and crafted to allow it to maintain its war aims.
Fighting has raged in the besieged Gaza Strip since Biden said Israel was offering a new roadmap toward a full ceasefire.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since insisted his country would pursue the war until it had achieved all its aims.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government “cannot ignore Biden’s important speech” and should accept the proposed deal, vowing to back Netanyahu if his far-right coalition partners quit over it.
“I remind Netanyahu that he has our safety net for a hostage deal,” Lapid said on the X platform, the former Twitter.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leaders of the two extreme-right parties in parliament, said they would leave the government if it endorses the truce proposal.
Ben Gvir said on X his party would “dissolve the government,” while Smotrich said: “We demand the continuation of the war until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages return.”
Smotrich added he opposes the return of displaced Gazans to the territory’s north and the “wholesale release of terrorists” in a prisoner swap.
War cabinet member Benny Gantz, a centrist politician, had threatened to resign unless Netanyahu approved a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8.
Netanyahu has faced increasing domestic pressure over the fate of hostages and from a resurgent anti-government movement, with Israelis rallying again on Saturday near military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
‘Wiped off the map’ In a joint statement, Qatar, the United States, and Egypt said that “as mediators in the ongoing discussions to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and detainees,” they “call on both Hamas and Israel to finalize the agreement embodying the principles outlined by President Joe Biden.”
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
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