The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a political source as saying that Israel had agreed to discuss ending the war on the Gaza Strip as part of the first phase of the deal announced by US President Joe Biden yesterday, Friday.
The source reported that the first phase of the deal includes the release of female detainees, female soldiers, the elderly, and some injured people.
He stated that the second phase of the deal includes the release of men, soldiers and the rest of the injured.
The third stage of the deal includes the release of all bodies, according to the same source.
The source says that Israel reserves the right to resume fighting if Hamas violates the terms of the deal.
He adds that Israel accepted a proposal that includes releasing 33 “kidnapped” people, alive or dead, in the first phase, and stopping the war in the second phase.
The opposition leader in Israel, Yair Lapid, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to respond to Biden, regarding reaching a truce deal in Gaza and exchanging prisoners with Hamas.
Lapid pledged to support Netanyahu and prevent the collapse of his government if its far-right members became stubborn and prevented from reaching a settlement regarding the prisoners in Gaza.
“The Israeli government cannot ignore President Biden’s important speech,” Lapid wrote on X. “There is an agreement on the table that must be concluded.”
He added, “I remind Netanyahu that he has a safety net on our side to conclude a hostage agreement if Ben Gvir and Smotrich leave the government.”
For his part, Netanyahu said on Saturday that there cannot be a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip before Hamas’s capabilities are destroyed, which casts doubt on the timing and interpretation of the truce proposal announced by US President Joe Biden.
Biden intervenes
Yesterday, Friday, the American President spoke about a new Israeli proposal to reach a truce and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, and called on Tel Aviv to move forward in this direction.
He explained that the first phase will last 6 weeks, and includes “a complete and complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas in Gaza, the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, and in return the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”
He pointed out that the Israeli and Palestinian sides will negotiate a permanent ceasefire during those six weeks, but the truce will continue if the talks remain ongoing.
In turn, the families of the Israeli prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip called on Netanyahu to go out in public and announce his explicit approval of the deal revealed by Biden.
The families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza said on Saturday that the proposal announced by the US President 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.
Source : Tel Aviv Tribune + Agencies + Israeli press