Biden's Gaza plan 'not a good deal' but Israel accepts it, Netanyahu aide says
An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposed by US President Biden, though he described it as "not a good deal". The plan faces fierce opposition from the Israeli far-right, Euronews reports.
Speaking in an interview with UK media, Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, says US President Joe Biden's proposed three-phase plan to ending the war in Gaza is "a deal we agreed to — it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them".
Falk was speaking to UK newspaper The Sunday Times.
Israel's conditions, including "the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organisation" have not changed, he added. He went on to say many details of the plan still need to be worked out.
The plan still faces ardent opposition from the Israeli hard-right. Two ministers - finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir - said they were opposed to striking any deal before Hamas was destroyed.
Both ministers have threatened to quit and collapse Israel's governing coalition if Netanyahu accepted the deal.
But President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog, speaking on X, wrote that he supported the deal. "I want to thank President Biden for his speech and his ongoing efforts to bring about the release of all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza," he said.
"I told Prime Minister that I will give him and the government my full support for a deal which will see the release of the hostages."
