NETANYAHU REJECTS NEW CEASEFIRE DEAL
March 17, 2024Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the latest ceasefire proposal by Hamas calling it “”ridiculous””.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has not given up hope, saying there was still room for negotiation toward an agreement.
Talks are said to be continuing in Qatar with Netanyahu sending a delegation to Doha to continue negotiations.
Hamas, proposed a ceasefire of 4.5 months, during which all hostages would go free, Palestinian hostages would be released at one Israeli for 10 Palestinians, and that Israel would withdraw its troops from Gaza and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.
Israel rejected these terms while Netanyahu has continued to succumb to the far-right demands of his cabinet and has approved the military’s plan for a ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, where around 1.5 million Palestinians, the vast majority of civilians, have sought shelter.
US President has warned Netanyahu not to launch an offensive on Rafah as the civilian death toll would be unjustified.
@aljazeeraenglish
If you advocate for TRUTH & JUSTICE, SHARE to spread the knowledge.
#FreeGaza #PalestineSolidarity #GazaGenocide #UNRWA #EndGenocide #Palestine #ICJJustice #ceasefirenow #FreePalestine #Interfaith #StandWithUs #Truth #Palestine #Gaza #Humanrights #Israel #فلسطين #اسرائیل #غزة #airdropaidforgaza #aipac #israelilobby #middleeast #egypt #truth #facts
English Script:
Tom McRae: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the latest ceasefire proposal by Hamas. But his office says a delegation will visit Qatar to continue negotiations on the release of Israeli captives. And Netanyahu has also approved the military’s plan for a ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, where around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter. Hamas has proposed its plan by be implemented in three stages of 42 days each in the first stage. The group demands the withdrawal of Israeli forces beyond Salah Al Deen roads to enable people to return home. Hamas says it’s ready to release female Israeli reservists held captive in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, 50 inmates for each captive. Now, in the second stage, Hamas wants a permanent cease-fire to be announced before it releases any captured soldiers. And in the final stage, the group proposes the end of Israel’s siege and the beginning of reconstruction efforts in Gaza. For more on all of this, let’s go to Hamdah Salhut, who joins us now from occupied East Jerusalem. Netanyahu has just responded to this Hamas proposal. Can you just go into a little bit more detail about what he had to say?
Hamdah Salhut: Well, the Israeli prime minister’s office releasing a statement that was quite short, saying that Hamas demands are still unrealistic. But what we do know is that these negotiations are no longer at a stalemate. Remember that a couple of weeks ago, the negotiations in Cairo were entirely stalled and the Israelis did not send a delegation there. But this time it seems that the Israelis will be sending their own delegation to discuss with mediators about the potential of this deal. But again, the Israelis have said that no matter what, the war is not going to end until all of their objectives for this war and how they want to prosecute it are met. Hamas demands remain the same. They want to see a comprehensive cease fire, meaning an end to the war. And the Israelis say that is simply a non-negotiable.
Tom McRae: At the same time, the war cabinet has also discussed this plan for this Rafah offensive. What more do we know about that?
Hamdah Salhut: That’s right. Israel’s war cabinet convening about drawing up plans for Israel’s invasion into Rafah. The Israeli prime minister saying that they now do have plans for the evacuation of the nearly million and a half Palestinians who are seeking refuge in Gaza, southern most city. But remember that this anticipated ground invasion into Rafah is something that has received a lot of criticism, a lot of condemnation from around the world, especially from Israel’s biggest ally, the United States, who said that they simply wouldn’t support an operation like this, given how many civilians were in Rafah. So the Israelis have remained persistent, saying that it is absolutely necessary in order to achieve their goal of eliminating Hamas. They say they must go into Rafah. So at this point, the Israelis are saying that they are in the initial phases of approving plans. They have approved the plans for the evacuation. But how exactly it will work, we do not know just yet.
Related News
