Netanyahu “flatly” rejects Hamas' conditions to release hostages

“I flatly reject the conditions of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message released by his office, in an apparent response to information about a new agreement proposal mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

According to Netanyahu, in exchange for the release of all the hostages, Hamas demands: “the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all the murderers and rapists of Nuhkba (elite force of the military wing of Hamas) and leaving Hamas intact.”

The premier assured that “military pressure is the only solution” to return the hundreds of thousands of evacuees from the communities bordering Gaza “safe and sound to their homes” and to prevent “another October 7” from happening again. in reference to the brutal attack by Hamas that day on Israeli soil, which left more than 1,200 dead and 240 kidnapped.

“I am not willing to endure such fatal damage to Israel's security, so we will not accept it. The conditions imposed by Hamas illustrate a simple truth: there is no substitute for victory,” he said.

“If we accept this, our warriors fell in vain and we will not be able to guarantee the security of our citizens,” said the prime minister, increasingly cornered by popular pressure. especially the families of the hostages, to negotiate at any price the release of all the captives

A ceasefire proposal

Netanyahu's statements come after the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal exclusively published this Sunday that Qatar and Egypt presented Israel and Hamas with a ceasefire proposal in three phases, which would last about 90 days, to put a definitive end to it. to the conflict, citing security sources from various parties involved.

The 90-day plan proposes a lasting ceasefire during which Hamas would release all civilian hostages and, in return, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, withdraw from Gazan cities, allow freedom of movement in the enclave, cease the use of drones and double the amount of aid it allows in.

In a second stage, Hamas would free the female soldiers and hand over the bodies of captives – some 27 bodies compared to the around 110 hostages who would remain alive inside the Strip – and Israel would release more prisoners; while in the third phase Israel would withdraw its troops to the Gaza border and the Islamist group would finish releasing all the hostage soldiers and men of fighting age.

Regarding the kidnapped people, Netanyahu asserted that he works “24 hours” to return them home and that this is one of the main objectives of the war, along with the total elimination of Hamas.

Once that initial plan is completed in 90 days, the proposal from Qatar and Egypt contemplates a total cessation of hostilities, normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and a peace process that leads to the creation of a Palestinian state.

“My insistence is what prevented for years the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would have posed an existential danger to Israel. As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to defend it firmly,” he said of such a possibility.

The prime minister also stressed that, after the war, “Gaza must be demilitarized and under full security control of Israel”, something that he has repeated on numerous occasions, but that his partners in the international community, including the US, do not like. USA, which is committed to ceding control to the Palestinian National Authority.

“After we achieve complete victory and eliminate Hamas, there will be no factor in Gaza that finances terrorism,” Netanyahu said, a message he said he reiterated to US President Joe Biden in a telephone conversation this weekend. of week.

Thousands protest in Israel to demand release of hostages

Meanwhile, pressure remains on the streets of Israel.

Thousands of people protested on Saturday, January 20, in Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel to demand that the Israeli Government reach an agreement for the release of the hostages in Gaza, as well as the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu at a time of increasingly open criticism of his management of the war.

According to the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons, tens of thousands of mobilized people came out to support, as is customary every Saturday, the relatives of the captives in an event in the center of Tel Aviv, where they assured that “time is up and it is time for an agreement”after 106 days captured by Hamas in the Strip since the war broke out on October 7.

At the same time, there were demonstrations in places such as Jerusalem and the town of Cesaria, where Netanyahu has a private residence, in front of which relatives of the hostages camped and protested. asking the prime minister for a change of policy in Gaza that involves a pact for the freedom of their loved ones.

In addition, many mobilized also demanded the calling of elections, given the loss of confidence among part of the population with the management of the Israeli Executive, while the war with Hamas in Gaza continues and there seems to be more voices that criticize the management of the conflict.

Among Netanyahu's critics there are many who believe that The prime minister wants to prolong the war for his own political survival and to avoid in-depth scrutiny for not having anticipated the Hamas attack on October 7. which started the war and led to some 1,200 deaths in Israel and 240 hostages taken to Gaza.

Of these, 110 have been releasedmost during a week-long truce in late November between Israel and Hamas.

With EFE