DOHA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that total victory in Gaza was within reach, rejecting the latest offer by Hamas for a cease-fire to secure the return of hostages still held in the besieged enclave.
Netanyahu renewed his pledge to destroy Hamas, saying there was no alternative for Israel but to bring about the collapse of the group.
“The day after is the day after Hamas. All of Hamas,” he told a news conference, insisting that a complete victory over Hamas was the only solution to the war in Gaza.
Hamas proposed a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire in Gaza, during which all hostages would be freed, Israel would withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip and an agreement would be reached to end the war.
The Hamas offer, the content of which was first reported by Reuters, is a response to an earlier proposal drawn up by US and Israeli spy chiefs and delivered to Hamas by Qatari and Egyptian mediators last week.
Also read: Landslide kills at least 6 in southern Philippines
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the offer with Netanyahu after arriving in Israel following talks with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt, countries that acted as mediators. Blinken later met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
Israel launched a military offensive after militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on October 7. Gaza’s health ministry says at least 27,585 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, with thousands more feared buried under the rubble. So far, there has only been one ceasefire, which lasted only a week at the end of November.
Israel has previously stated that it will not withdraw its troops from Gaza or end the war until Hamas is wiped out.
But sources described Hamas taking a new approach to its long-standing demand to end the war, now proposing it as an issue to be resolved in future talks rather than a condition for a ceasefire.
A source close to the negotiations said the Hamas counter-proposal does not demand a guarantee of a permanent ceasefire at the outset, but that an end to the war would have to be agreed before the final hostages are freed.
