Agony of families as Israel rejects ‘absurd’ Hamas ceasefire deal
BENJAMIN Netanyahu last night dashed the hopes of hostage families by rejecting Hamas’s latest ceasefire proposal as ‘unrealistic’.
Relatives of those held captive had urged the Israeli prime minister to do the deal, telling him: ‘For the first time we can envision embracing them again – please grant us this right.’
But after assembling a security cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Netanyahu dismissed the demands for the total withdrawal of Israeli Defence Force troops as ‘absurd’. He did however pledge to send delegates to Qatar to continue truce efforts. Israeli delsix
‘Unrealistic proposal’
egates had returned from negotiations in Cairo last week after Hamas refused to identify which hostages were alive, crushing chances for a deal in the run up to Ramadan.
Now it appears direct talks will restart as each side inches towards an agreement.
The latest proposal calls for a three-stage process, starting with a partial Israeli pullback from ‘all cities and populated areas’ in Gaza and the return of displaced Gazans ‘without restrictions’.
Meanwhile all female hostages – including military personnel – as well as male civilians would be exchanged for dozens of Palestinian prisoners at a ratio of one Israeli for between 20 to 50 Palestinians. After an initial week stage, a permanent ceasefire would be declared and Hamas would release all the male Israeli soldiers held prisoner.
In the final stage, reconstruction of Gaza would begin and the Israeli blockade of the enclave would be lifted.
When Hamas handed the outline to Qatari mediators on Thursday evening and an Israeli source described them as ‘reasonable’, indicating that ‘an agreement can be reached’. But within an hour Mr Netanyahu said the demands were ‘unrealistic’.
He was backed up yesterday by the security cabinet. Mr Netanyahu has also approved an IDF plan to enter Rafah, despite warnings from the international community, including Egypt and the US, not to move into the southern Gaza city where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are known to be sheltering.