Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed condemnation of the war continued by current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Gaza Strip. The newspaper quotes his words in its material Independent on Friday, February 9th.
“With sharp condemnation, Ehud Olmert said Mr. Netanyahu's 'arrogance' and 'manipulation' led to catastrophic security failures, allowing Hamas to carry out the attack that sparked the current conflict,” the newspaper writes.
The former Israeli prime minister also noted that the “messianics and extremists” brought by Netanyahu into the ruling coalition are blocking the vital need to resolve the conflict.
Olmert is confident that it is necessary to cease fire and make every conceivable and unimaginable effort to save the hostages held by Hamas. Failure to comply with this condition and continuation of hostilities would be “absolutely inexcusable” and “something that the people of Israel will never forget,” he added.
Earlier, on February 9, Axios reported that Israel responded to Egypt and Qatar that it rejected the demands of the Palestinian Hamas movement regarding a deal to free the hostages. At this point, he is ready to begin negotiations based on the initial proposal put forward two weeks ago.
On February 7, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities Alexander Boroda, noted that Russia is making every effort to help people who are held hostage as a result of the escalation of the Middle East conflict. At the same time, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Vershinin said that Russia was in contact with all parties to the conflict regarding the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Prior to this, on January 31, Al Hadath TV channel, citing sources, indicated that Hamas agreed to the gradual release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as part of a new deal to exchange hostages held by radicals in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that the Israeli side was working on another agreement on the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but “not at any cost,” since there are “red lines.”
In turn, Israel and Hamas agreed on January 24 to exchange prisoners and prisoners as part of a ceasefire. Hamas stressed that it will not fulfill any conditions until a pause in hostilities actually occurs.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, when Hamas subjected Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. That same day, Israel began retaliating against targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are seeking to return the borders between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to create its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses these conditions.
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