Netanyahu: Biden supported plan to return hostages “without affecting other war aims”

ISTANBUL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that a ceasefire plan for Gaza supported by US President Joe Biden would allow the release of hostages “without jeopardising the other objectives of the war”.

In a statement from his office, Netanyahu said his refusal to stop the attack on Gaza “has brought Hamas back to the negotiating table.”

“The framework agreed by Israel and welcomed by President Biden will enable Israel to release hostages without jeopardizing other war aims,” ​​he said.

The Israeli prime minister claimed that any agreement would allow Tel Aviv to resume fighting “until its war aims are achieved.”

“Smuggling weapons to Hamas from the Gaza-Egypt border will not be possible,” he said. “Israel will maximize the number of live hostages returned from Hamas captivity.”

Last May, Biden said Israel had put forward a three-phase agreement to end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 had previously stated, citing Mossad sources, that Israeli officials were optimistic that an agreement could be reached to return the Israeli hostages from Gaza.

According to the sources, Israel considers the current moment to be “favorable” to reach an agreement with Hamas, and security agencies are advising political leaders to take advantage of this.

For months, efforts by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a hostage exchange and a ceasefire were hampered by Netanyahu’s rejection of Hamas’s call for a cessation of hostilities.

Israel has ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and is facing international criticism for its ongoing brutal offensive on Gaza since the attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

According to local health authorities, more than 38,150 Palestinians have been killed since then, mostly women and children, and more than 87,800 others injured.

Nine months after the start of the Israeli war, large parts of the Gaza Strip lie in ruins and there is a crippling blockade of the supply of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Israel to immediately cease its military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before the May 6 invasion.

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