The US is still confident that Israel will agree to a ceasefire. The extremist organization Hamas, which controls Gaza, has also not responded to its position on the truce plan.
Minister of Internal Security in Israel Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized the country’s prime minister in harsh words on Monday Benjamin Netanyahu and repeated his threat to leave the government with his group if Netanyahu agrees to a truce in Gaza with the extremist organization Hamas.
Ben-Gvir is not suitable for the president of the United States Joe Biden the terms of the truce plan presented last Friday.
The plan presented by Biden would begin with a six-week ceasefire, which would include, among other things, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from residential areas in Gaza and the release of hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians captured by Israel. The plan also includes humanitarian aid to Gaza.
After six weeks, Hamas and Israel were to negotiate the terms of a permanent truce, and the final phase of the plan would be to negotiate the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, recently said on Friday that it views the draft truce positively, but has not commented on the status of the negotiations since then.
Harsh criticism of Netanyahu from the extreme right
Ben-Gvir, representing the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, accused Netanyahu of agreeing to end the war before the government’s goal of destroying Hamas has been achieved.
– If there is no agreement on ending the war, why [Netanjahu] you refuse to show me the draft contract you promised to show me? Ben-Gvir said at a press conference today.
According to Ben-Gvir, despite Netanyahu’s promises, the prime minister’s aides have not sent him a draft of the contract to read.
– There is only one reason for hiding the contract. This is a draft of a reckless agreement, and now they are trying to whitewash its content, Ben-Gvir said.
Ben-Gvir also repeated the threat he made earlier in the weekend to dissolve the government if Netanyahu agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza before Hamas is destroyed.
In Netanyahu’s government, the far-right wing is represented by the finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister of Diaspora Amichai Chikli have, like Ben-Gvir, made a draft of the truce plan and threatened to overthrow the government.
However, the US State Department announced today that it remains confident that Israel will eventually agree to a truce. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the US position is that Hamas cannot be eliminated by military means alone.
The US State Department also said that a plan for a ceasefire was also delivered to Hamas on Thursday, but the US has not heard back from the extremist organization.
Netanyahu defends the truce plan
Prime Minister Netanyahu today defended the content of the truce plan and said that Biden only told some of the points in the draft.
According to Netanyahu, the current plan will not stop hostilities in Gaza, but will only lead to a temporary ceasefire. Netanyahu assured that during the ceasefire, Hamas will release the hostages it is holding in Gaza.
The prime minister’s office informed that Netanyahu told a committee in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, that the claims about the Israeli government agreeing to a truce without Israel’s “conditions being met” are false.
Netanyahu emphasized that the destruction of Hamas is still the most important goal of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which would continue to be carried out in parallel with the hostage negotiations.
Sources: Reuters, STT-AFP