Mediating countries urge Israel and Hamas to accept ceasefire – DW – 06/02/2024

Qatar, the United States and Egypt, mediators in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, urged this Saturday (06/01/2024) Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas to accept the ceasefire project presented the day before by US President Joe Biden. After nearly eight months of war in that territory.

Fighting did not subside in the besieged Gaza Strip, particularly in Rafah in the south, after Biden revealed on Friday, May 31, that Israel had proposed a new roadmap for a ceasefire, which Hamas described as “positive”.

Shortly after the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the war triggered by an Islamist commando attack on Israel on October 7 would only end with the “eradication” of Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.

The Israeli leader, facing growing internal pressure, recalled this Saturday that Israel’s “conditions for ending the war” include “the release of all hostages and the guarantee that Gaza no longer poses a threat to the country”.

In a statement issued by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, the Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators “called on both Hamas and Israel to finalise an agreement that incorporates the principles outlined by President Joe Biden.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also urged Netanyahu to heed Biden’s call and offered his support if his far-right allies resigned from the government.

The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, both threatened this Saturday to resign if Netanyahu accepted the plan presented by Biden. Without the parties of these two ministers, Netanyahu’s coalition would lose its majority in parliament.

“It’s time for this war to end”

Netanyahu is also facing growing protests from Israelis, who demonstrated again this Saturday near the military headquarters in central Tel Aviv.

According to Biden, the three-phase plan proposed by Israel would begin with a ceasefire that would include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza for six weeks and the release of some hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

He added that the temporary ceasefire could become “permanent” if Hamas “honors its commitments”. The next step would involve the release of the remaining hostages.

He stressed, “It is time for this war to end and for the next day to begin.”

The conflict began on October 7, when Hamas commandos, considered a terrorist group by many countries, killed 1,189 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.

The militants also kidnapped 252 people. Israel claims that 121 people have been kidnapped in Gaza, of which 37 have died.

In response, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and launched an air and ground offensive that has so far killed 36,379 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.

The peace proposal garnered positive international reactions and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on both parties to take advantage of the “opportunity” to achieve “lasting peace in the Middle East”.

MG (AFP, EFE)