3/6/2024–|Last updated: 6/3/202404:37 PM (Mecca time)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that US President Joe Biden’s plan means ending the war on Gaza without eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and without achieving the goals of the war.
Ben Gvir added – in a press conference – that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed him a day ago that he could see the draft of the deal, but he did not present it to him yet. Rather, Netanyahu’s aides told him that there was no draft, according to him.
Ben Gvir threatened to dismantle the government if Netanyahu agreed to the deal without eliminating Hamas. He added that the delay in showing him the draft meant that there was a bad agreement that would lead to ending the war without “annihilating Hamas,” and he demanded that it be presented immediately, stressing that he would not make a decision before that.
Ben Gvir’s statements come after Israeli media quoted Netanyahu as saying that what President Biden presented regarding the deal proposal was not accurate, refusing to agree to stop the war on the Gaza Strip before achieving its goals.
Netanyahu said – according to what was reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation – that he “will not review the details of the deal, but what Biden presented is not accurate and there are details that have not been revealed.”
He added, “We can stop the fighting for 42 days to return the hostages, but we will not give up absolute victory.”
Likewise, he was quoted by the Israel Today newspaper, where he said, “Israel can stop the fighting to return the kidnapped people, but it cannot stop the war.”
Channel 12 also quoted him as saying, “Biden presented only part of the broad outlines of the deal, and we will not stop the war without achieving its goals,” adding that the number of abductees who will be released in the first phase of the deal has not yet been determined.
Last Friday evening, US President Joe Biden announced the details of a three-stage Israeli proposal, which includes a ceasefire, prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
In this context, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported, citing informed sources, that the War Council discussed the possibility of sending the negotiating delegation to Cairo, to continue contacts with the mediators.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation added that the War Council decided to wait until a positive response was received from the mediators before sending the delegation.
Meanwhile, dozens of family members of Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza gathered in front of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee hall, in the city of Jerusalem.
This demonstration coincided with a closed meeting held by Netanyahu with members of the committee. The demonstrators tried to intercept the committee members as they were heading to the session, which led to verbal altercations between the demonstrators and a member of the Knesset, while the mother of one of the prisoners screamed and said that she would not allow anyone to return her son’s body.
With the mediation of Egypt and Qatar and the participation of the United States, Israel and Hamas have been conducting faltering indirect negotiations for months, while the Israeli war on Gaza has continued since October 7, 2023.
The Israeli war on Gaza left more than 118,000 martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
