Mr. Netanyahu announced that he will only withdraw troops from Gaza when Israel has achieved complete victory.
(Baonghean.vn) - Commenting on information related to negotiations under the agreement with Hamas to release hostages on January 30, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out the possibility of withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip until all goals are achieved and a complete victory is achieved...
"I'm hearing statements about various agreements, so I want to be clear: we will not end this war until all of our objectives have been achieved. That means eliminating Hamas, returning all the kidnapped people and ensuring that Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel. We will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists. There will be no such thing," Prime Minister Netanyahu declared.
The current hostilities in Gaza are "not another attack, not another campaign", the Israeli prime minister said. Mr Netanyahu said the war would end with Israel's "total victory" over Palestinian extremists. "Nothing less than that," Mr Netanyahu said. "I am committed to achieving that goal, our fighters are committed to that, the overwhelming majority of our people are committed to that. We will accept only a total victory".
Earlier, CNN quoted a source as saying that the Egyptian intelligence agency was said to have presented a tentative proposal to Hamas on releasing the hostages, which was reached at a meeting in Paris on January 28 between intelligence chiefs from Egypt, Israel, the US and the Qatari Prime Minister.
While negotiators have reached a general consensus, the specifics of the deal could be difficult to agree on, CNN reported. According to the tentative agreement, the first phase of the hostage exchange would include a six-week pause in hostilities. For every civilian held by Hamas, three Palestinians held in Israeli prisons would be exchanged. The ratio could be increased for exchanges of Israeli soldiers, and a six-week ceasefire could be followed by a longer pause.
Sky News Arabia reported that the deal between Hamas and Israel could include a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan, a holy month in Islam. In 2024, the month falls between March 11 and April 9. Israel has not officially commented on the reports.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said the country does not want an expanded conflict in the Middle East. “I don’t think we need a major war in the Middle East, that’s not what I’m looking for,” Biden told reporters on January 30.
The White House has vowed to respond to attacks on US military personnel in the Middle East. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that the response could be “multi-layered, phased and sustained over time”./.
