JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday suggested that the ceasefire effort in Gaza is focusing on a comprehensive deal that releases remaining hostages at once, not a phase.
Arab officials said last week that Egyptian and Qatar mediators are preparing a new framework for the deal, including the release of all hostages remaining at once in return for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
It appears that the long-term indirect lectures collapsed last month. However, Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for a ceasefire talk, Egypt’s state-run Qahera news channel reported indications that efforts have not been abandoned after the 22 months of the war.
Israel is threatening to expand its military attacks against Hamas into Gaza’s region.
These plans have sparked international condemnation and criticism within Israel, and may be aimed at putting pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire. The militants are holding the war-raising attacks on October 7, 2023, with 50 hostages being filmed. Israel believes that around 20 people are alive.
“I want all of them.”
In an interview with Israeli I24 News Network Broadcasting on Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked whether the windows were closed under a partial ceasefire agreement. Badr Abdelatti of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry told reporters that Cairo was still trying to advance previous proposals for the first 60-day ceasefire, the release of several hostages and the influx of humanitarian aid.
“I think it’s behind us,” Netanyahu replied. “We tried, but we’ve made all sorts of attempts. We’ve gone through a lot, but it turns out they’re just misleading us.”
“I want all of them,” he said of the hostages. “Releasing all the hostages that are alive and dead — that’s the stage we’re in.”
However, he added that Israel’s demands have not changed and that the war will only end when all hostages are returned and Hamas surrenders. He said that Israel would still maintain free security controls on its territory.
Hamas has long been seeking a comprehensive deal, but says that in return for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, they will only release the remaining hostages. As Israel demanded, extremist groups refused to lay their arms.
The United Nations warns of hunger and malnutrition
The United Nations warned on Tuesday that Gaza’s hunger and malnutrition have been at its highest level since the war began.
United Nations spokesman Stephen Dujaric reported warnings from the World Food Programme, and Gaza’s Health Ministry told UN staff in Gaza that five people have died from malnutrition and starvation in the last 24 hours.
The ministry says 121 adults and 101 children died of malnutrition-related causes during the war.
“In response to this background, the humanitarian supplies entering Gaza are far below the minimum amount needed to meet the immeasurable needs of people,” Dujaric said.
He said the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are doing everything possible to bring aid to Gaza, but they still face major delays and obstacles from Israeli authorities that are preventing the delivery of food and other essentials on a necessary scale, he said.
Hamas-led militants have accused 251 people, killing around 1,200, mostly civilians in the 2023 attacks. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires and other deals.
Israeli air and ground attacks have driven out most of Gaza’s population, destroyed vast areas, and forced the territory to starve. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, it killed more than 61,400 Palestinians. This doesn’t say how many fighter jets and civilians were, but about half were women and children.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and independent experts consider it the most reliable source of information on victims of war. Israel disputes the figures, but does not provide its own.
Israel says it hit militants disguised as aid workers
In another development, Israeli military said it recently struck a militant group in Gaza who was disguised as aid workers and used cars in the logo of the International Charity World Central Kitchen.
The Army said they fired airstrikes on the man after confirming with the charity that they were not part of it and the car was not part of it.
World Central Kitchen has confirmed that the man and the vehicle are not part of it. “We strongly condemn the world’s central kitchens and other people who pretend to be humanitarians in order to help these dangerous civilians and workers,” the statement said.
The military shared video footage showing several men in yellow vests standing around a car with a charity logo on the roof. The military said five men were armed.
Founded in 2010, the charity dispatches teams that can provide meals on a large scale after conflict zones and natural disasters.
In April, seven world central kitchen workers in Gaza died in an Israeli strike. Israel quickly admitted that it accidentally killed aid workers and began an investigation.
In November, the Israeli strike killed five people, including kitchen workers in the world whom Israel said was part of the Hamas attack that sparked war. The charity said it didn’t know that the employees had something to do with the attack.
