Ceasefire hopes dashed as Israel PM rejects deal

BENJAMIN Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’s ‘delusional’ proposal for a hostage deal and pledged a ‘total victory’ is the only path to peace.

The Israeli Prime Minister dismissed the terrorists’ demands as ‘bizarre’ last night and said to agree to them would ‘only invite another massacre’ when they are ‘a finger away’ from victory.

But in a sign that his officials were still open to negotiations, he added that they ‘haven’t actually committed to anything’ in terms of the specifics of a deal. Hamas outlined a detailed plan for an agreement which would see all hostages freed in exchange for 1,500 Palestinian prisoners and an end to the war.

It proposed three 45-day phases of releases, starting with women, male civilians under 19, the elderly and the sick in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners.

The IDF would then have to withdraw from populated areas of Gaza and cease aerial operations before males and soldiers were released in exchange for other convicts. In the final phase, the bodies of dead hostages would be returned for the last of the terrorists held in Israeli prisons.

But Hamas’s demands also call for a complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza, which would effectively allow Hamas to rebuild its military and remain in power.

Mr Netanyahu said: ‘ Surrendering to Hamas’s delusional demands not only won’t lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre. We are on the way to an absolute victory.’ Asked if he would accept the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for hostages, he said: ‘We haven’t actually committed to anything… There is supposed to be some kind of process of negotiations with the mediators, but… I don’t know what is happening.’

US President Joe Biden described the demands as ‘a little over the top’, but last night his Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire deal was ‘still possible’. Mossad, Israel’s security agency, said it was ‘looking intently at what was presented to us’.

Negotiations are ongoing between Israel, the US, and Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo. All sides are said to be pushing for an deal before Ramadan next month, which can be a time for increased religious fervour.