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Israel Accepts ‘Not Good’ Gaza Ceasefire Deal – Netanyahu Advisor

By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 02.06.2024

On Friday, the White House called the deal proposed by Israel to Hamas “a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages” that would enable a flood of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave. Previous ceasefire deals have collapsed.

Israel has accepted the framework new deal to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah’s chief foreign policy advisor said on Sunday.

The plan, revealed on Friday by US President Joe Biden, was “a deal we agreed to — it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them,” Ophir Falk was cited by The Sunday Times as confirming.

He added that, “There are a lot of details to be worked out,” and Israel’s conditions regarding “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization” remain unchanged.

Falk doubled down on the Israeli prime minister’s stance that “there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met.”

Gaza ceasefire mediators the US, Qatar, and Egypt issued a joint statement that called on both Israel and Hamas to finalize an agreement “embodying the principles outlined by President Biden.”

Hamas on Friday said it provisionally welcomed the proposal of US President Joe Biden on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement welcomes idea of the speech of US President Joe Biden … in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] and the exchange of prisoners,” the movement said.

“Biden’s speech included positive ideas, but we want this to materialize within the framework of a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera.

Biden, whose administration has been playing both sides – shipping weapons to its ally Tel Aviv while seemingly engaged in a flurry of mediatory activity – revealed a new comprehensive proposal to wind down the Gaza war.

Israel has offered a “roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” the US president stated in his Friday press conference.

The proposal, transmitted by Qatar to Hamas, embodies three phases. The first phase would last for six weeks and include a temporary ceasefire, full withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages by both sides.

A permanent ceasefire to end to all hostilities would be negotiated during the second phase, which could include the release of all remaining hostages and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza if Israel’s security guarantees are satisfied. A major reconstruction plan for Gaza would begin during phase three.

What is seen as a sticking point for realization of the deal is that it implies continued Hamas involvement in the arrangements alongside the mediators. However, at no point has Israel agreed to back down from its goal of eliminating Hamas.

Suffice it to recall the previous ceasefire proposals over the past months, none of which have come to fruition. A February truce mediated to halt fighting by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan that began on March 10 did not materialize.

As for Hamas, it has been insisting that only a permanent ceasefire would ensure the release of all the hostages.

Netanyahu is under pressure from his own coalition government, where both far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party have indicated that they will resign if the proposed plan to end hostilities without destroying Hamas and returning all the hostages is agreed to. The two have the power to dismantle the governing coalition. At the same time, Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity party wants the deal to be considered.

While the bargaining continues, an estimated 36,439 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 82,627 wounded since October 7, according to the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that practically no health services remain in Rafah after the al-Helal al-Emirati hospital closed.

June 2, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Horror of attrition will drive IOF out of Gaza: Abu Hamza

Al Mayadeen | June 1, 2024

The spokesperson of the al-Quds Brigades, Abu Hamza, confirmed that the military wing of the Resistance movement continues to confront Israeli occupation forces, stressing that the Resistance remains “in great shape,” and vowing that “the horror of attrition will drive the occupation outside of Gaza.”

In a recorded statement released by al-Quds Brigades on the 239th day of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Abu Hamza emphasized that the Palestinian Resistance is engaged in an existential battle in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, asserting that victory for the Resistance is inevitable.

Concerning the Israeli captives held by the Resistance in the Gaza Strip, Abu Hamza stressed that the al-Quds Brigades are “fighting a complex security battle to preserve them,” addressing the occupation settlers by saying, “The only way to return the captives is to withdraw from Gaza, conduct an exchange deal, and end the aggression.”

He added that as the occupation persists in its genocidal campaign against Gaza, the return of settlers to the settlements “will not happen until the war on Gaza ends.”

June 1, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas Welcomes Biden’s Proposal for Ceasefire in Gaza – Statement

Sputnik – 01.06.2024

The Palestinian movement Hamas on Friday welcomed the proposal of US President Joe Biden on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the day, Biden said that Israel has offered Hamas a new three-phase proposal with a roadmap that would lead to an enduring cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip as well as the release of all hostages.

“The Hamas Islamic Resistance movement welcomes idea of the speech of US President Joe Biden … in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] and the exchange of prisoners,” the movement said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes the new proposal announced by US President Biden will achieve a permanent peace in Gaza, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

“For months the Secretary-General has been pushing for a ceasefire, full and unfettered humanitarian access, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza. The Secretary-General strongly hopes that this will lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace,” Dujarric said on Friday in response to Biden’s announcement.

May 31, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas: AP news report necessitates US apology to the resistance

Palestinian Information Center – May 23,2024

GAZA – The Hamas Movement said on Wednesday the press reports refuting the Israeli allegations that Palestinian resistance fighters committed sexual violence on October 7 is a new slap in the face of those promoting these baseless allegations.

This came after the Associated Press published a press report on Wednesday in which it confirmed that Israel’s allegations were not true and deliberately fabricated.

Hamas confirmed in a press statement that these allegations were used for the purpose of demonizing the resistance, and to hide the resistance’s humanitarian behavior and good treatment of Israeli prisoners who were detained in Gaza.

The Movement pointed out that the AP report is added to many international media and human rights reports that refute the Israeli allegations, proving they are mere lies and blatant fabrications.

Hamas said that all these reports require US President Biden and other officials in some European countries to apologize and stop repeating false accusations against the resistance and the Palestinian people.

The Movement called on Ms. Pramila Patten, the UN Special Envoy for Sexual Violence in Conflict Areas, to re-evaluate and review her report in which she accused the Palestinian resistance of committing sexual violence, after relying on Israeli narratives proven to be based on no professional investigation into those alleged crimes.

The AP revealed in a report published on Wednesday that many of the stories about sexual assaults on October 7 turned out to be untrue, quoting an Israeli volunteer who claimed that sexual assaults occurred during the October 7 attack as saying that he did not fabricate stories, but rather interpreted what he saw in a wrong way, indicating that he corrected that later.

The Israeli government and media claimed that Hamas fighters beheaded children and committed violations such as rape, but Hamas denied the matter and published video clips showing its fighters dealing with children in a friendly manner.

Another video clip showed Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, releasing a woman and her two children at the Gaza border.

The AP indicated that the religious non-governmental organization “ZAKA”, which was responsible for collecting bodies following the October 7 attack, admitted several months later that the stories that went viral on Hamas sexual assaults during the attack were incorrect.

A member of the Hamas political bureau, Ezzat Al-Resheq, said in a statement in English, “The world will realize the lies and falsity of the Israeli narrative that spreads misleading information about alleged atrocities committed by the Palestinian resistance.”

May 23, 2024 Posted by | Deception | , , , , , | Leave a comment

ICC applies for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Sinwar

The Cradle | May 20, 2024

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, the movement’s military wing chief, Mohammad Deif, and Political Bureau head, Ismail Haniyeh, for war crimes.

Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that all bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.

The ICC, based in The Hague, opened an investigation into Israel’s actions in the occupied territories in 2021. The investigation has been expanded to cover both Israeli and Hamas actions since the start of the Gaza war on 7 October.

The ICC accused Hamas of killing several hundred Israelis and of committing various war crimes during its assault on Israeli military bases and settlements during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The ICC accusations include extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape and other sexual crimes, and torture.

The ICC statement also does not mention that during the 7 October Hamas attack, Israeli forces killed many of their own civilians by responding with heavy weapons. Israeli media has reported that the army used helicopters, drones, and tanks to open fire on Hamas fighters and their Israeli captives in settlements (kibbutzim), military bases, and the Nova music festival site.

These heavy weapons burned many Israelis alive or buried them under the rubble of the houses they destroyed. The killings and resulting mutilation of the bodies were then blamed on Hamas by Israeli authorities, who suggested fighters from Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, had tortured them.

UN investigators have sought evidence that Hamas has committed mass rapes on 7 October in response to Israeli claims, but Israel has failed to provide it. Many reports of Hamas committing mass rape, including in a widely publicized article in the New York Times in December, have been shown to be false.

The ICC also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes, including extermination, murder, directing attacks at civilians, and using starvation as a weapon of war.

The ICC statement focused on Israel’s efforts to starve Palestinians in Gaza, citing its efforts to cut off food, water, medicine, and electricity to the enclave starting on 9 October. The ICC statement mentions Israeli attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food.

The statement claims that Israel carried out these war crimes as part of a right to self-defense and to defeat Hamas, win the release of Israeli captives held by the group, and punish civilians it viewed as a “threat.”

At the same time, the ICC statement did not mention the reason for the Hamas attack, namely to break the 17-year siege on Gaza, end decades of illegal occupation and settlement in the West Bank, and free thousands of Palestinians held hostage in Israeli prisons.

The ICC statement makes no mention of Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza, of Israeli sniper drones killing civilians, and of the torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees swept up in Gaza and taken to detention facilities in Israel. The ICC statement also makes no mention of Israeli efforts to ethnically cleanse Gaza nor of the estimated number of Palestinians killed by Israeli bombings and other actions, which now exceeds 34,000, including some 8,000 children, according to conservative UN estimates.

In response, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel that Karim Khan’s “baseless blood libel against Israel has crossed a red line in his lawfare efforts against the lone Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”

“The blood libel will not deter Israel from defending itself and accomplishing all its just war objectives,” says the official. Netanyahu will issue a video statement later in the day.

May 20, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Progressive Hypocrite, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli troops lament return to north Gaza months after ‘dismantling’ Hamas

The Cradle | May 15, 2024

Israeli troops say they are facing significant difficulty in battles with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza’s northern city of Jabalia, an area that Tel Aviv said months ago was “cleared” of Hamas fighters.

“Renewed operations in Jabalia and other parts of northern Gaza, like Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, point to two lessons learned: that the IDF failed to fully assess the scale of Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza [during the first rounds of fighting in the city months earlier],” Haaretz newspaper reported on 14 May.

“When Israeli forces left the area, [Hamas] quickly reestablished itself in the vacuum created by the lack of a ‘day after’ strategy.”

Tel Aviv claimed in early January that all of Hamas’ battalions were dismantled in northern Gaza, including Jabalia. Several Israeli army brigades are now back in the north, with the army’s 98th division operating in Jabalia after being diverted there instead of Rafah, according to Haaretz.

“We are in a learning contest with Hamas. You can see they’ve changed tactics and are now focusing more on setting explosive devices in buildings,” the commander of the Israeli army’s 196th Battalion is cited as saying.

The fighters of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades and other groups like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) Quds Brigades have increasingly used the tactic of booby-trapping and detonating buildings with Israeli forces inside.

Traditional tactics, including RPG attacks on tanks and vehicles, sniping operations, and mortar attacks on troop concentrations, continue to be deployed. The Qassam Brigades released several videos over the past few days showcasing their operations against troops in Jabalia.

The Haaretz report notes that despite wide-scale operations across Jabalia months earlier, the resistance’s military capabilities remain intact. On 14 May, Israeli forces watched a barrage of rockets fly overhead, fired from nearby them in Jabalia northwards to Ashkelon.

“It’s frustrating to see this, seven and a half months after the war began,” a commander of the 196th battalion says.

According to Haaretz, the Israeli soldiers fighting in Jabalia have all used a single word to describe their presence in the city: “Sisyphean.” The word refers to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who the gods punished by forcing him to roll a giant boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down each time he neared the top.

Reservists are also increasingly frustrated, as they are being deployed to combat areas with no knowledge of when they could return.

“We were told that, in principle, we’re coming for a month, but the bottom line is that we’re here with open-ended orders,” the Israeli outlet cites a reservist as saying, adding that some are not reporting for service.

May 15, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas slams Biden for linking Gaza cease-fire to hostage release

MEMO | May 12, 2024

Hamas on Sunday criticized US President Joe Biden for linking a Gaza cease-fire to the release of Israelis held captive by the Palestinian group, Anadolu Agency reports.

Biden said Saturday that a cease-fire in Gaza would be possible as soon as “tomorrow” if Hamas released Israelis in its captivity.

This position “is a regression from the results of the last round of negotiations, which led to our approval of a proposal drawn by mediators in Egypt and Qatar, with the US knowledge,” Hamas said in a statement.

Last week, Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 Israelis following its Oct. 7 cross-border attack, accepted a proposal drawn by Egypt and Qatar for a cease-fire in Gaza.

But Israel said the truce offer did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah, home to more than 1.5 million displaced people, to apply “military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”

Hamas said it has shown flexibility during all rounds of negotiations to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza.

“However, terrorist [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government rushed to overturn this path by launching their aggression on our people in Rafah, Jabalia, and Gaza,” it added.

“Biden’s position once again confirms the US bias towards the criminal policy” pursued by Israel and shows “its continued political cover and military support for the genocide waged against our people,” Hamas said.

More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 76,600 others injured in a brutal Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Palestinian group demands an end to Israel’s ongoing military offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage swap with Tel Aviv.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January said it is “plausible” that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war.

May 12, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

THE STATS ON PALESTINIAN TERRORISM — 2000 TO APRIL 2024

By Larry Johnson | SONAR | May 10, 2024 

I have completed the initial cleanup of the data posted on the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which lists all suspected Palestinian terrorist attacks during the 23-year, four-month period (i.e., 2000 to April 26, 2024). During this period, the Israeli Government identifies 672 terrorist attacks blamed on the Palestinians. Why do I phrase it like that? Because several of the incidents involve the discovery of dead Israelis with no identified attacker. Here is just one example:

Apr 30, 2013 – Evyatar Borovsky, 31, of Yitzhar, was stabbed to death in a terror attack at the hitchhiking post at theTapuah junction in the northern West Bank.

Maybe it was a terrorist attack or maybe it was a jealous husband. Listing this as a terrorist attack implies a degree of planning and intent that is not supported by the data.

Now here are the really interesting numbers. 105 of the attacks are attributed to Hamas. 58 to Islamic Jihad and 5 to Hezbollah. In other words, only 25% of the attacks are associated with a specific Palestinian group. The remaining 75% are blamed on nameless culprits. The total number killed by Palestinian violence during this 23-year-plus period is 1,455. That is the number of victims listed at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs site. And, as I noted in my recent article (Hamas is a Third-Rate Terrorist Organization), the Israelis killed 7,065 Palestinians during the same period of time. In other words, the Israelis killed almost five times the number of Palestinians. This may explain why the Palestinians carried out “terrorist” attacks — they were seeking vengeance, retribution.

I am not suggesting that Hamas was a benign actor. Hamas took credit for several bombings, such as the August 9, 2001 suicide blast at a Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem. There is no excuse for this kind of mindless violence. If someone is wearing a uniform and carrying a firearm, then they are a legitimate target of war. That is insurgency, not terrorism in my view. Others may differ. Killing families sitting down for a meal is not only criminal, but evil. It is wrong when Hamas or Islamic Jihad do it and it is wrong when Israel drops a bomb on civilian housing and wipes out extended families. It appears that Hamas and the other Islamic groups concluded that such acts of violence were counterproductive because the last use of an explosive on a public gathering in Israel was July 18, 2012. It also is possible that Israel increased its security protocols making it more difficult for suicide bombers to infiltrate into Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

I have attached the spreadsheet to this article. I have not had time to thoroughly organize the data. For example, I would like to get the incident dates into a separate column. I want to identify how many of the victims were military versus civilian. I want to identify the specific group that claims responsibility for the attack. If any of you have the free time and the inclination (and the skill) to convert this database into something more useful as an analytical tool please feel free to take a whack.

Vilifying Hamas as an unrepentant international terrorist group is not fair nor accurate. They share more in common with Native American tribes carrying out attacks on European settlers in the 19th Century in America’s Wild West. It is violence spawned by a fight over land and freedom of movement. Hamas is not in the same category nor league as ISIS and Al Qaeda. Not even close.

One final point of reference. The number of people murdered in Chicago between 2000 and 2023 stands at 13,526. And we don’t call that terrorism. Israel has close to ten million people, while Chicago is a little more than one-fifth the size, with 2,665,000 in 2022. Just keep that in mind.

May 11, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular | , , , | Leave a comment

Here’s Every Ceasefire Deal and Prisoner Exchange Hamas Has Offered Israel Since October 7th

BreakThrough News | May 8, 2024

May 10, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Video | , , , | Leave a comment

Malaysia tells US it doesn’t recognise sanctions imposed unilaterally

MEMO | May 9, 2024

Malaysia has told the US that it does not recognise sanctions imposed unilaterally by individual states, Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said today.

“I emphasised that we will only recognise sanctions if they are imposed by the UN Security Council,” added Ismail at an event after meeting with Brian Nelson, the top sanctions official of the US Treasury Department, Free Malaysia Today has reported. “The delegation from the US respected our stance.”

Nelson is in Malaysia reportedly to discuss issues related to funds being moved to Iran and its proxies, and funding for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas from within the Malaysian financial sector.

The minister pointed out that Kuala Lumpur is committed to combating terrorist financing with a “clear strategic plan in place to tackle illicit funding and money laundering.” Moreover, he said that Malaysia’s policies and strategies “comply with international standards.”

The meeting came as the US said it was trying to prevent Malaysia from becoming a jurisdiction where Hamas could both fundraise and then move money. Washington also said that Iran’s capacity to move its oil was due to service providers based in Malaysia.

The minister, however, described his meeting with Nelson as “productive” and said that Malaysia was “always open to engaging with the US.”

May 9, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel to hand over Rafah crossing to private US firm: Report

The Cradle | May 8, 2024

Israel will grant control of the Rafah border crossing to a private US security company, Haaretz reported on 8 May.

The US, Egypt, and Israel have agreed “that a private American security company will assume management of the crossing after the IDF concludes its operation.”

Discussions between the three sides have been ongoing. Israel has committed to the US and Egypt that it will restrict its operation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. Tel Aviv reportedly made it clear during talks that the operation at the Rafah crossing aims to pressure Hamas in ceasefire talks and diminish the crossing’s image as a “symbol of Hamas’ power.”

It has also said the operation aims to cut off Hamas’ ability to channel weapons and funds into Gaza.

Israel has reportedly vowed not to damage the crossing’s facilities to ensure its operation is not hindered. The Rafah crossing is considered a major lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza, and the UN has warned that continuous Israeli operations in the area seriously threaten aid efforts.

Cairo and Washington have been showing serious concern lately over Israel’s plans for Rafah, which the army has been promising to invade for months. The city is overcrowded with over a million besieged Palestinians, and a full-scale assault poses the threat of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.

“As part of Israel’s efforts to win agreement for a Rafah operation, negotiations have been underway with a private company in the US that specializes in assisting armies and governments around the world engaged in military conflicts,” the Haaretz report adds.

The company, which employs veterans of elite US military units, has been active in several African and West Asian nations, guarding sites such as oil fields, bases, and border crossings.

In line with the understandings reached between Cairo, Washington, and Tel Aviv, the US firm will assume responsibility for the crossing after Israel’s “limited” operation there is over. This includes overseeing the delivery of goods arriving from Egypt to Gaza and ensuring Hamas does not re-establish control of the crossing.

“According to the agreement, Israel and the US will assist the company as necessary.”

The White House and a State Department spokesman said on 8 May that they are unaware of any such plans. Several Palestinian resistance factions said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they refuse any attempt to “impose any form of [foreign] guardianship of the Rafah crossing,” adding that they consider this a “form of occupation.”

“Any plan of this kind … will be dealt with in the same way as the occupation is dealt with,” the statement added.

Sources told CNN and the Times of Israel on Tuesday that Israel’s operation at the Rafah crossing is a limited one, which aims to pressure Hamas in ongoing truce negotiations. Hamas accepted on Monday an updated proposal for a deal, which Israel finds unacceptable given its explicit call for a cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.

Hamas has accused Israel of continuously sabotaging efforts to reach a truce agreement.

May 8, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel signals rejection of ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas

Press TV – May 6, 2024

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal in Gaza, where it has fought a seven-month Israeli aggression that has left tens of thousands dead.

A short statement from Hamas on Monday said that head of the group’s politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that it accepted their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli regime, however, appears not to have accepted the deal.

If the ceasefire agreement takes effect, it would be the first truce since a week-long pause in the fighting in November 2023.

The statement by Hamas came hours after senior officials in the group said efforts for reaching a ceasefire would stop if Israel goes ahead with its plans to invade the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than half of the territory’s population of 2.3 million people has been sheltering from Israel’s brutal bombardments in other regions.

Israel on Monday ordered people in some parts of Rafah to evacuate in an apparent move to prepare for an invasion of the city.

The US government said it had warned the Israeli regime against a major operation in Rafah.

Speaking to reporters after Hamas’ announcement on the ceasefire, the Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari would not confirm whether Israel would go ahead with plans to attack Rafah.

However, he said that the Israeli regime will exhaust “every possibility regarding negotiations and returning the hostages.”

A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the proposal presented by Qatar and Egypt consists of a three-stage plan, and includes the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinian refugees, and a prisoner exchange.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas politburo in Gaza, explained that the plan is interconnected in terms of the stages of its implementation.

In the first stage of the agreement, the Israeli military will withdraw to areas adjacent to Gaza, he said. In the second stage, he said, a permanent ceasefire and cessation of hostilities will be declared.

Al-Hayya insisted that the ball was now in the Israeli regime’s court whether to accept the deal and end the war.

The Hamas official also said that the mediators promised that US President Joe Biden had signaled a commitment to ensuring the implementation of the proposed deal.

Biden spoke over the phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to warn him that Washington is concerned about Israel’s Rafah invasion plans.

Saudi Arabia also warned of the dangers of Israel targeting Rafah as part of its “bloody” and “systematic campaign to storm all areas of the Gaza Strip and displace its residents”.

Nearly 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its aggression on the enclave on October 7 last year.

The invasion came hours after Hamas carried out a brief but extensive military operation into the Israeli-occupied territories near Gaza, killing nearly 1,200 Israeli settlers and military forces.

Hamas also took some 250 captives during its anti-Israeli operation in October. Under growing pressure from settler communities living in the occupied Palestine, the Israeli regime has been pushing for the release of the captives as part of a potential ceasefire deal with Hamas.

May 6, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment