During a press conference on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “there is no other solution than total victory”.
According to the Reuters news agency, Hamas proposed a 135-day ceasefire. Among other things, Hamas demanded an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, that Gaza be rebuilt and that Israeli troops withdraw. But that proposal was rejected by Netanyahu.
“Leads to deep divides”
Bitte Hammargren, Middle East analyst at the Foreign Policy Institute, says in Aktuellt “that the suffering will continue” because the ceasefire proposal was not accepted.
– The offensive against Rafah, a city full of refugees, continues and this also means that the lives of the hostages are endangered. It leads to deep divisions in Israeli society.
Critical voices are also found in Netanyahu’s own war cabinet, according to Hammargren. Among others, Israel’s former chief of defense, Gadi Eisenkot, who believes that a complete victory over Hamas is an unrealistic scenario.
“Defying Biden”
Biden wants to cool down the situation. Why can’t Israel be brought along?
– Netanyahu is dependent on far-right settler representatives and they have a strategy for Gaza. They want to reoccupy Gaza and get Palestinians out of there and prevent a two-state solution. So does Netanyahu, and he is defying Biden at this moment. Biden has a need to secure the election and US interests in the region. So Netanyahu is playing high.