Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an increase in military operations, spoke of a long war – and called the dismantling of Hamas a prerequisite for peace.
“Hamas must be destroyed, the Gaza Strip must be demilitarized and Palestinian society must be de-radicalized. These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu wrote in an op-ed for the newspaper Wall published on Tuesday Street Journal”.
The USA, Germany, Great Britain, France and many other countries would support Israel’s intention to destroy the terrorist group – which is “an important proxy of Iran”. Hamas leaders vowed to repeat “again and again” the October 7 massacre in Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people. “Therefore, their destruction is the only proportionate response to prevent a repeat of such terrible atrocities. Anything else guarantees more war and more bloodshed,” writes the Israeli prime minister.
“Cruel and cynical”
He rejected international criticism of the high number of civilian casualties caused by Israel’s military operation – 20,600 people in Gaza according to the Hamas health authority. This would only encourage Hamas in the “cruel and cynical strategy” of “using human shields.”
Hamas reiterated in a statement Monday evening that “there will be no negotiations without a comprehensive cessation of aggression.” The leadership of Hamas is committed to “a complete and not just a temporary end to the massacres of our population.” The radical Islamists were reacting to an Arab media report that Egypt had drawn up a draft to end the Gaza war in several stages.
As the Saudi TV channel Ashark News reported on Sunday, the first phase would be to enforce a ceasefire lasting at least two weeks. During this time, 40 hostages held in the Gaza Strip were to be exchanged for 120 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
“End division”
In a second phase, there should be a Palestinian dialogue under the auspices of Egypt to “end the division” and form a technocratic government, it said. This passage refers to the rivalry between the two largest Palestinian groups, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah and the Islamist Hamas. Only in a third phase should there be a complete ceasefire and a comprehensive agreement on the exchange of hostages and prisoners, which should lead to a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip.
According to a report in the Times of Israel newspaper, Israel’s war cabinet planned to address the Egyptian proposal on Monday. However, Netanyahu said during a visit to troops in the Gaza Strip that Israel would “deepen the fight in the coming days.” He spoke of a long fight against Hamas, the end of which is not imminent.
In a speech to the Knesset, Netanyahu later promised to free the hostages still in the Gaza Strip. However, the army needs “more time” to increase military pressure on Hamas. Relatives of the hostages repeatedly booed Netanyahu from the gallery during his speech and chanted “Now! Now!” to support their calls for more efforts to release the hostages more quickly.
Second ceasefire called for
Many are calling for a second ceasefire so that those abducted can be exchanged for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. During the first ceasefire lasting several days at the end of November, 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians.
After heavy Israeli attacks in the central section of the Gaza Strip, the search for dead continued in the rubble on Monday. The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health spoke on Monday of a large number of dead and injured people, whose rescue efforts were underway. According to information, more than 70 people were killed in air strikes in the refugee district of Al-Maghazi. The information has not yet been independently verified.
The war between Israel and Hamas has now been going on for 80 days. The trigger was a large-scale attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th, in which around 1,140 people were killed and around 250 others were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has been carrying out massive attacks in the Palestinian territory – with the declared aim of destroying Hamas. According to the latest figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 20,670 people have been killed so far.
