Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace says Hamas requests for modifications to truce proposal ‘unacceptable’.
Israel is sending a negotiating group to Qatar for talks on a Gaza ceasefire proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed.
In an announcement late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned the group would journey on Sunday after the Israeli chief instructed negotiators “to just accept the invitation for shut talks”.
However the assertion mentioned that “the modifications Hamas is requesting to make to the Qatari proposal have been delivered to us final evening and are unacceptable to Israel”. It didn’t elaborate on what modifications have been being requested.
Hamas mentioned on Friday that it had offered a “constructive” response to a United States-brokered proposal that may contain a 60-day truce in Gaza, renewing hopes of a attainable finish to Israel’s lethal assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Greater than 57,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli assaults throughout Gaza for the reason that October 2023 begin of the warfare, which has decimated the Strip and spurred a dire humanitarian disaster.
However for months, specialists have accused Netanyahu – who faces rising home strain to safe the discharge of Israeli captives held in Gaza – of blocking makes an attempt to succeed in a deal that may finish Israel’s offensive.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut defined that the captives’ households have accused the Israeli prime minister of “prioritising politics” over the lives of their family members.
“His present right-wing allies – the explanation why Netanyahu is in energy – don’t need a deal,” she mentioned, including that United States President Donald Trump has additionally been pushing for an settlement between Israel and Hamas.
Trump will host Netanyahu for talks on the White Home in Washington, DC, on Monday.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel’s far-right nationwide safety minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key member of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, referred to as on the Israeli prime minister to “abandon the trail of give up”.
In a publish on X, Ben-Gvir wrote that any ceasefire deal that would come with Israel’s withdrawal from “conquered territories”, the discharge of Palestinian prisoners, or the “revitalisation of Hamas with humanitarian support” would represent a “reward for terrorism”.
“The one option to obtain victory and securely return our hostages is thru the whole conquest of the Strip, a complete cessation of ‘humanitarian’ support, and the encouragement to emigration,” he mentioned.
“I name on the prime minister to desert the trail of give up and return to the trail of victory.”
In the meantime, Hamas has insisted that any settlement should embrace ensures that Israel will completely finish its warfare on Gaza.
However the Palestinian group mentioned on Friday that it was “absolutely ready, with all seriousness, to instantly enter a brand new spherical of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing” the most recent ceasefire framework.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, as a result of Al Jazeera is banned in Israel and the occupied West Financial institution, Salhut defined that Hamas has made requests for 3 core amendments to the proposal.
“They wished the talks for ending the warfare to proceed if there was a pause within the preventing, if that 60 days was over,” she mentioned.
The Palestinian group additionally desires humanitarian support to be delivered to Gaza by way of worldwide mechanisms as a substitute of the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Basis (GHF), Salhut mentioned.
Greater than 700 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded whereas in search of support at GHF websites for the reason that group started working within the Strip in late Might.
“The third [request] was about the place Israeli forces might be within the Gaza Strip as a part of this deal,” Salhut added.