“G“I would like to highlight the efforts to release as many hostages alive as possible since the first phase of the deal,” Netanyahu said in a video broadcast after a meeting in Tel Aviv with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The US top diplomat said today that Israel has accepted a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and called on the Palestinian Islamist movement to do the same.
Blinken’s statements came after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the Israeli prime minister as part of his ninth emergency mission to the Middle East, the ninth since the start of the current conflict in the Palestinian territory.
The plan proposed at the end of May by US President Joe Biden envisages in a first phase a six-week truce accompanied by the Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip and the release of several of the 111 hostages kidnapped on October 7 during the Hamas attack on Israel and still held captive in the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Hamas have said for weeks that they support the plan, but the Palestinian movement accuses Tel Aviv of adding “new conditions” that it believes are being imposed by “American dictates”.
Netanyahu reiterated that he “cannot be flexible” on certain points and rejects negotiations in which he only gives and receives nothing in return.
Blinken maintains the goal of reaching a truce, which would allow the release of the 111 Israeli hostages, of whom at least 39 have already died, and provide access for more humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian enclave.
“I very much appreciate the understanding that the United States has shown towards our vital security interests, towards our joint efforts to secure the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said after the meeting with Blinken.
The Israeli leader on Sunday called on the mediating countries — the United States, Qatar and Egypt — to put pressure on Hamas and not Israel, and reiterated his firmness on two central points: not to cease the military offensive until the Islamist group is dismantled and not to withdraw his troops from the strategic Philadelphia Corridor, which covers the entire border line between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
In the same vein, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said today that Tel Aviv troops will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip until the objective of destroying Hamas is achieved.
During a meeting with Blinken in Tel Aviv, Gallant ruled out an end to hostilities until the return of hostages and the dismantling of Hamas, according to a Defense Ministry statement.
“The minister emphasized the importance of [continuar] the constant military pressure exerted by Israel on Hamas, coupled with the need for continued political pressure from the United States,” he added.
Despite differences between Gallant and Netanyahu over the course of the war in the Palestinian enclave, the defense minister’s message to Blinken is in line with that of the prime minister, who insisted that he will stand firm on Israel’s “security needs.”
On the other hand, Gallant and Blinken “discussed security challenges in the Middle East region”, and the Israeli minister thanked the United States “for its deep commitment to Israel’s security”, the Defense statement said.
In response to Blinken’s statements, the Hostage Families Forum called in a statement for an agreement between Israel and Hamas as soon as possible.
This Israeli group formed by families of those kidnapped by Hamas stressed in its press release that “time is running out for the hostages”.
“We cannot afford to waste this crucial opportunity, which could be our last,” the text insisted.
The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which left around 1,200 people dead and more than two hundred people taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
Following the Hamas attack, Israel launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has already caused more than 40,000 deaths, mostly civilians, and a humanitarian disaster, destabilizing the entire Middle East region.
Read Also: Blinken says Israel has accepted Gaza ceasefire proposal
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2617806/netanyahu-insiste-em-tregua-que-liberte-numero-maximo-de-refens-vivos
