Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel would allow Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip as the army prepares for a wider offensive in the territory.
Moreover, according to Israeli media reports, including Haaretz, the Tel Aviv leader specifically invited “countries that want to help the Palestinians” to “open their doors to them.”
Netanyahu said that residents should be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip “if they wish to do so, as has been the case in other wars, such as in Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan.”
In an interview with Israeli television channel i24, Netanyahu called Gaza the last stronghold of Hamas.
According to him, Hamas has switched to “guerrilla warfare,” after which Gaza City became the group’s last stronghold. Netanyahu promised that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would evacuate civilians before entering the city and taking action against the militants. The IDF will then advance to refugee camps in central Gaza and the Mawasi area, which Netanyahu described as a less important Hamas stronghold that will be easier to eliminate after the militants are defeated in Gaza itself.
The Times of Israel noted that he said the same thing in February 2024 about the city of Rafah in an interview with CBS.
In addition, Netanyahu reiterated that the condition for ending hostilities in the Gaza Strip remains the simultaneous release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
A Hamas delegation and Egyptian mediators discussed issues related to the resumption of negotiations in Cairo on August 12. According to a source in The Times of Israel, the mediators will try to secure a 60-day truce with the prospect of a “comprehensive agreement that will immediately end the war and secure the release of all 50 remaining hostages at once.”
The source acknowledged that this would be difficult to achieve in a short period of time, as Israel demands that Hamas lay down its arms and surrender completely, relinquishing control of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has announced that Khalil al-Hayya, the movement’s leader in Gaza, has arrived in Cairo for talks with the Egyptians.
