Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas, have put forward a new proposal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
The proposal includes “a ceasefire for five to seven years, a formal end to the war, a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.”
The Qatari newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed reported that an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday night to hold talks with mediators and seek a breakthrough in negotiations with Hamas. According to the report, the delegation met with senior Egyptian officials yesterday.
Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer handed to it last week, but said it was willing to discuss a broader deal that includes an end to the war.
Meanwhile, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis wrote on X:
“The Israeli Army has now designated the whole of Gaza a Kill Zone. And the West whistles in the wind, looks the other way, perpetuates its insidious complicity in this crime against humanity, this real-time genocide.”
Israeli ministers call for West Bank annexation
Israeli ministers called for the annexation of the occupied West Bank at the inauguration of a new settlement built on Palestinian land.
Tel Aviv television KAN reported that Defence Minister Yoav Galant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, National Missions Minister Orit Struk and Negev and Galilee Development Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf attended the event.
The ministers issued statements in favour of expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and spoke in favour of their annexation.
Defence Minister Yoav Galant called the settlements erected on captured Palestinian land “Israel’s defensive line” and threatened to continue attacks on the northern West Bank.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin said that Israel “has a right” to West Bank lands and that the issue is a priority for the government.
Minister Wasserlauf, for his part, called the current Israeli government the “last chance” to annex the West Bank.
Against the backdrop of continued Israeli army attacks on the West Bank, far-right parties and politicians in Israel regularly speak out in favour of Jewish supremacy in the occupied Palestinian territories, the expansion of Israeli control and the establishment of sovereignty in these lands.
