Two days after US president Joe Biden’s dramatic speech presenting the details of an Israeli ceasefire and hostage release agreement, Hamas on Sunday night had still not formally responded while doubts grow over whether Israel’s right-wing government would endorse the deal that was approved by the limited war cabinet.
Hamas officials said the militant group viewed the deal in a “positive light” but it is unlikely that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar will endorse the plan without a clear-cut Israeli commitment to end the war.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said there would be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Mr Netanyahu said. “The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.”
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Both far-right parties in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition have made it clear they will topple the government if Mr Netanyahu agrees to the three-phase plan outlined by Mr Biden. Members of Mr Netanyahu’s own Likud party have also voiced opposition.
The White House said on Sunday it expected Israel would agree to the plan.
“This was an Israeli proposal. We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal – as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal – then Israel would say yes,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC News.
Israeli president Yitzhak Herzog gave his backing to a deal on Sunday. “We must not forget that according to Jewish tradition, there is no greater commandment than redeeming captives and hostages – especially when it comes to Israeli citizens who the state of Israel was not able to defend,” he said.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza ministry for health, more than 36,400 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7th last. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 hostages seized in the surprise Hamas attack on that day. It says 125 hostages remain in Hamas captivity but it is not known how many are alive.
Delegations from the US, Egypt and Israel ended talks in Cairo on Sunday without a breakthrough on the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Egypt reiterated its position that Israeli troops must withdraw from the Palestinian side of the crossing for the terminal to reopen.
As the fighting continues in Rafah, Israeli minister for defence, Yoav Gallant, said on Sunday that Israel has been “steadily choking” Hamas by cutting it off from its supply routes on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt and is working on establishing an alternative government in the Palestinian enclave. Gallant said that in addition to “the important military action, the defence establishment is preparing the alternative ruling body to [replace] Hamas.”
According to Mr Gallant, they plan to “isolate regions [in Gaza], take out Hamas members and enter other forces which will allow for a different rule that challenges Hamas”.
Exchanges of fire took place throughout Sunday on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. The pro-Iranian Hizbullah has vowed to continue attacking Galilee as long as the Israeli military campaign in Gaza continues.
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