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Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday ruled out a ceasefire in Gaza before the elimination of Hamas militants, amid hopes for another truce and hostage release.
Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants also took around 250 hostages, of whom 105 have been released and several killed, including by friendly fire.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops in an offensive that has killed at least 20,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas government.
Netanyahu said Israel was not ready to end the fight, AFP reported.
“We won’t stop fighting until we’ve achieved all the objectives we’ve set ourselves: the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages and the end of the threat from Gaza,” he said.
“Anyone who thinks we will stop is not connected to reality. We are attacking Hamas with fire – an inferno.”
Netanyahu’s remarks came after Qatar-based Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Cairo to discuss with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel a possible Gaza truce.
CNN reports that adding to hopes of a new cessation in fighting, the Hamas’s political chief visited key mediator Egypt on Wednesday.
It noted that a general framework that Israel was proposing would once again entail hostages – women included – being released in phases, with the ultimate goal of all hostages in Gaza getting out.
But the source stressed that a deal at this moment is not imminent and that the discussion of proposals marks, at most, the beginning of negotiations. Still, Israel appearing to return to the negotiating table is notable.
Another source familiar with the discussions said that a proposal Israel has made to Hamas, via mediator Qatar, is that fighting be paused for a week in order to allow for the release of hostages.
