The families of Israeli prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come out publicly and announce his explicit approval of the deal revealed by US President Joe Biden.
The families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza said on Saturday that the proposal announced by US President Joe Biden yesterday, Friday, regarding a ceasefire, gives them hope for the return of their children, but the Israeli Prime Minister may undermine it, and may try again to thwart the new deal.
The families confirmed that the extremists in Netanyahu’s government want the war to continue without end, and that there is a minority that is blackmailing him and threatening the deal.
The families of the prisoners stressed the need to support the deal and not leave the arena to extremists, and called on the members of the war government, Benny Gantz and Eisenkot, to ensure that Netanyahu does not seek to sabotage it, and stressed that they must use their powers to make the new exchange deal a success.
New hope
She also called on members of the Knesset to support the deal announced by the US President, noting that the deal announced by Biden offers for the first time hope for the safe return of the hostages.
A relative of the prisoners said at a joint family conference organized in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv: “Biden’s speech offers us real hope for the first time in returning our children, but Netanyahu may undermine this deal as well.”
In a joint conference for families organized in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, broadcast by the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority, another prisoner’s relative, Netanyahu, demanded the removal of all obstacles and an announcement of support for the Israeli deal proposal revealed by the US President.
The families of the prisoners called on all Israelis to go out to the streets on Saturday and participate in the demonstrations demanding the conclusion of an immediate deal.
A relative of one of the detainees at the conference said, “There is a minority that is blackmailing Netanyahu and threatening the deal, and we must support the deal and not leave the arena to extremists.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press quoted family members of prisoners held by Hamas and other resistance factions as saying that time is running out, and that the present moment may be the last opportunity to save the lives of their relatives.
The families called on the Israeli government not to disappoint them, and said that the government’s delay in reaching a deal cost them the loss of many of their relatives detained by Hamas.
Deal proposal
Yesterday, Friday, US President Joe Biden – whose country provides absolute support to Tel Aviv in its war on Gaza – presented a three-stage proposal that includes a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of detainees, and the reconstruction of the Strip.
Contrary to what was stated in Biden’s speech, Netanyahu’s office said that the latter insists on not ending the war on the Gaza Strip until all its goals are achieved, while the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that it will deal positively with any proposal based on a ceasefire. Permanent and complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal.
Netanyahu insists on a temporary ceasefire, without ending the war or withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, while Hamas demands an end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli army, the return of the displaced, intensification of relief, and the start of reconstruction, within any prisoner exchange agreement.
Biden’s talk about this proposal comes despite Israel’s earlier rejection of another proposal presented by the mediators, and Hamas and the Palestinian factions announced its approval of it on May 6.
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 Palestinians dead 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.