Israeli PM Netanyahu rejects proposed ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas
Israel's Prime Minister on Wednesday rejected a Hamas-proposed ceasefire and hostage-release agreement, calling them “delusional”, Euronews reports.
His hardline stance will likely complicate efforts to strike a deal between the two sides, which could ultimately ease a devastating conflict in Gaza and bring Israeli hostages home.
Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with Israel's war against Hamas, now in its fifth month, until achieving “absolute victory”.
Hamas' plan called for a four-and-a-half-month pause in fighting, during which all hostages would be released and Israel would withdraw its troops from Gaza.
However, it would have effectively left the Palestinian militant group in power, a scenario Israel opposes.
“Surrendering to Hamas’ delusional demands that we heard now not only won’t lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre,” Netanyahu said in a nationally televised evening news conference.
“We are on the way to an absolute victory,” Netanyahu said, adding that the operation would last months, not years. "There is no other solution."
Criticism of Israel's PM is growing inside the country, with families of hostages pressing the government to change its approach to secure the release of their loved ones.
Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people in their attack, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. More than 100 captives, mostly women and children, were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The Palestinian death toll from nearly four months of war has reached 27,585, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says most of the dead have been women and children.
