Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir yesterday said it was time to use “full force” in Gaza, after Hamas said a new US-backed truce proposal failed to meet its demands.
“Mr Prime Minister, after Hamas rejected the deal proposal again — there are no more excuses,” Ben Gvir said on his Telegram channel. “The confusion, the shuffling and the weakness must end. We have already missed too many opportunities. It is time to go in with full force, without blinking, to destroy, and kill Hamas to the last one.”
The White House on Thursday said that US President Donald Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff had “submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, adding that discussions were “continuing” with the militants.
Israel has not confirmed that it approved the new proposal.
Hamas sources said last week the group had accepted a US-backed deal, but on Thursday, Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim said the new version meant “the continuation of killing and famine... and does not meet any of our people’s demands, foremost among them halting the war.”
“Nonetheless, the movement’s leadership is studying the response to the proposal with full national responsibility,” he added.
A source close to the group said the new version “is considered a retreat” from the previous one, which “included an American commitment regarding permanent ceasefire negotiations.”
THE US PLAN
A US plan for Gaza seen by Reuters yesterday proposes a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 28 Israeli hostages alive and dead in the first week, in exchange for the release of 1,236 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians.
The document also includes sending humanitarian aid to Gaza as soon as Hamas signs off on the ceasefire agreement. The aid would be delivered by the UN, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels.
The plan provides for Hamas to release the last 30 of the 58 remaining Israeli hostages once a permanent ceasefire is in place. Israel would also cease all military operations in Gaza as soon as the truce takes effect, it showed.
The Israeli army will also redeploy its troops in stages.
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