 "As with a previous week-long truce in November that saw more than 100 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners freed, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been spearheading efforts to secure a new deal Image Courtesy AFP")
With the military incursion into Gaza’s Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are taking refuge in tent cities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that his country would be weeks away from “total victory” over Hamas.
According to Egyptian media, talks for a ceasefire in Gaza have restarted in Doha. However, Netanyahu stated that a ceasefire would not stop the Rafah offensive.
“If we have a (ceasefire) deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen,” he told CBS.
“If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done, because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach – not months away, weeks away, once we begin the operation.”
On Friday, a delegation from Israel visited Paris to negotiate a new cease-fire and the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas in return for Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners.
Then, with representatives from Hamas present, the negotiations resumed in Doha.
“We’re all working on it. We want it. I want it. Because we want to liberate the remaining hostages,” Netanyahu said.
“I can’t tell you if we’ll have it, but if Hamas goes down from its delusional claims and brings them down to Earth, we’ll have the progress that we all want.”
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View AllDuring the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Palestinian terrorist group Hamas took some 250 hostages, 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 31 presumed dead, according to Israel.
As with a previous week-long truce in November that saw more than 100 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners freed, Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been spearheading efforts to secure a new deal.
International pressure for a ceasefire has mounted in recent weeks, as the death count from Israel’s military offensive on the Palestinian territory nears 30,000, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israel’s response to the October attack that claimed 1,160 lives, the majority of them civilians, was to pledge to destroy Hamas, the organization in charge of Gaza.
Netanyahu responded that his military chiefs will present him with “a dual plan – a plan to evacuate and a plan to dismantle those remaining (Hamas) battalions” on Sunday in response to a question concerning US demands that Israel defend civilians in Rafah.