Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that his government will not accept Hamas’ “delusional” demands for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli media reported.
The Palestinian group Hamas rejected the latest truce offer because it said Israel was ignoring the group’s basic demands. Israel seeks the destruction of Hamas and the return of all of the estimated 100 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, as well as the remains of about 30 others.
Israel has previously said it will not withdraw from Gaza or end the war until Hamas is destroyed. But sources close to the talks said Hamas was taking a new, three-step approach to its long-standing demand for an end to the war, offering to resolve the issue in future negotiations rather than as a condition of a truce.
According to a proposal document confirmed by sources:
- During the first 45-day phase, all Israeli female hostages, men under 19, the elderly and the sick would be released in exchange for Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons. Israel will withdraw from Gaza population centres.
- The implementation of the second phase will not begin until the parties conclude indirect negotiations on demands for a cessation of mutual military operations and the restoration of complete calm.
- The second phase includes the release of the remaining male hostages and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from all of Gaza. The third phase would include an exchange of the remains of the dead.
Washington sees the hostage release and truce deal as part of plans for a broader settlement of the Middle East conflict that will eventually lead to reconciliation between Israel and its Arab neighbours and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu also rejected a UN Security Council resolution passed Monday calling for a ceasefire. The council’s legally binding demand for a suspension of the war came at a time when much of the Gaza Strip lies in ruins, most of its 2.3 million residents displaced and a third of the besieged population on the brink of starvation.
Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and another 250 kidnapped when the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza on 7 October, starting the war.
More than 32,000 Palestinians were killed and more than 74,000 were injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Two-thirds of the dead are women and children, the ministry said.
