Netanyahu has no change in Stance on Gaza Ceasefire Amid US-Backed Proposal
Netanyahu has made it clear that despite the new government he heads, his position on the proposed ceasefire in Gaza, supported by Biden, has not changed. Responding to political pressures, in one of the government meetings, Netanyahu stressed his intention to continue military operations in the Gaza Strip.
“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Hamas eradication, all the hostages return, guaranteeing that Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel, and freeing our citizens and sending them back to their homes in the south and the north, ” Netanyahu said on Sunday.
On the issue of hostages detained in Hamas, Netanyahu said that there is no change in the approach under Joseph Biden, where the release mechanism has been recognised. “Regarding the sacred mission of freeing our hostages: Israel has not shifted its stance regarding the release outline that President Biden has welcomed, he said.
However, Hamas insists on a total cessation of violence as a precondition of any release of hostages plan, which the Israeli government refuses.
Finally, on 31 May, President Biden stated that Israel offered a three-step solution focused on ceasing the fighting between Israel and Gaza as well as on the release of hostages. The plan outlined here is a cessation of war, the hostage-prisoner swap, and the renewal of the physical plant of the Palestinian area.
Prime Minister Netanyahu came under a lot of heat last week from the families of hostages after showing tendencies of a willingness to accept a partial swap for some of the prisoners. This was said at the time of continuous condemnation by the global community and a UN Security Council resolution urging an immediate halting of hostilities, which Israel has ignored.
Since the start of the conflict on October 7, 2023, after a sudden attack by Hamas, 37 900 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children and 87, 000 injured by local health chiefs.
Gaza, which has been under a severe siege for eight months now, lies in shambles and is experiencing a critical shortage of food, clean water, and medicine. The calamity has resulted in many humanitarian disasters within the coastal land.
Now Global Voices smears Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ has to deliver another verdict that has restrained Tel Aviv from stopping military activities in the southern city of Rafah, from where an excess of one million Palestinians had taken shelter before the latter was invaded on May 6.
The current situation and Netanyahu’s determination to continue the fighting prove that the problem is far from being solved, and a peaceful settlement is unlikely. Over time, people interested in the future of the Middle East and other regions of the globe have been insisting on finding ways to resolve humanitarian crises and focusing the conflicting parties on the search for effective ways to establish lasting peace.
