Israel holds back negotiators until Hamas responds to truce proposal: Reports
Israel is waiting for Hamas to respond to a proposal for a halt to the fighting in Gaza and a return of captives before sending a team to Egypt to continue ceasefire talks, reports Reuters news agency, quoting “a person close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”.
It follows similar reporting by the Wall Street Journal that David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence agency, could travel to Cairo in the coming days, depending on developments in ceasefire negotiations.
A response to Israel’s latest proposal is expected from Hamas by Wednesday evening, reports Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker.
Reports suggest Israel plans to attack Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering – if Hamas rejects the deal.
Captive deal will not stop Israel from invading Rafah: Netanyahu
The Israeli prime minister has said Israel will invade the southern district of Rafah even if it reaches a ceasefire and captive release agreement with Hamas.
“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is out of the question,” Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office. “We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory.”
The prime minister has for months pledged to go ahead with an invasion of Rafah, despite public pushback from Israel’s main ally the US. The UN and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that an assault of Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, would be catastrophic.
Netanyahu’s pledge to attack Rafah ‘tramples’ ceasefire talks
While there had been some positive signs over the past few days of a potential truce deal in Gaza, the hopes now are dim after Netanyahu’s latest comments, an analyst says.
“For a while, there was a lot of cautious optimism up until this morning, and then the prime minister announced he will order an invasion of Rafah with or without a deal – in essence trampling all of these ceasefire talks,” Nour Odeh told Al Jazeera.
“This is what the families of the captives had feared. This is what the negotiators feared.”
Netanyahu’s comments came after he held meetings with the most right-wing members of his coalition government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, she said, noting the US secretary of state is on his way to Israel.
“It’s interesting, every time Blinken comes to the region – catching the tailwind of some optimism – something like this happens, and he ends up going home with nothing to show for all this political momentum.”
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