“Capitulating to Hamas’s demands would be a terrible defeat for the State of Israel” and would mean a victory for “Hamas, Iran and the entire axis of evil,” Netanyahu said on Sunday on the sidelines of peace negotiations in Cairo.
If Israel shows its “weakness” in this way, it will only bring the next war closer. “You don’t make alliances with the weak and the defeated, you make alliances with the strong and the victors.”
Israel showed its goodwill during the negotiations in Cairo, but Hamas stuck to its radical demands: that we withdraw all our troops from the Gaza Strip, end the war and leave Hamas in power, the Israeli leader said. “Israel cannot accept that,” he said.
READ ALSO. LIVE. Follow all news about the war in the Gaza Strip here
The whole world watched the talks in Egypt with excitement and hoped that a solution would be found. But Israel clearly has no intention of silencing its guns. As long as their goals of eliminating Hamas are not achieved, they will continue.
Benjamin Netanyahu first wants to attack Rafah, the Hamas stronghold — © AP
Ismail Haniyeh calls for a ceasefire — © REUTERS
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, meanwhile, accuses Israel of sabotaging the ceasefire effort. “Benjamin Netanyahu constantly wants to invent justifications to continue the aggression, expand the conflict and sabotage the efforts of various mediators and parties,” the statement said.
READ ALSO. US puts pressure on Hamas to reach agreement with Israel and release hostages: “Extremely generous proposal”
Hamas said it was willing to negotiate and reach an agreement with archrival Israel. But only if Israel explicitly agreed to a ceasefire.
“Our information confirms that Benjamin Netanyahu is personally putting the brakes on an agreement based on personal calculations,” the official told international news agencies.
Netanyahu had previously accused Hamas of “making numerous comments clearly aimed at destroying any possibility of an agreement.”
Netanyahu has also repeatedly said he is determined to launch a major offensive on Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip that he considers Hamas’s last stronghold, and has ruled out resuming the war that has been going on for seven months will be ended before the Islamic movement is wiped out.
Border crossing closed
Israel is now moving up a gear and is now also closing the border crossing with Gaza, in Kerem Shalom, after a rocket attack claimed by the extremist Palestinian organization Hamas. The border crossing is the most important for the transit of aid supplies to the Gaza Strip, which will further test the population, which has been suffering from hunger for months.
While a truce was being discussed in Cairo, the pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel. According to Hezbollah, this is retaliation for an earlier Israeli attack that killed three civilians. The attack is of course grist to the mill of the Israeli leaders who use the attack as proof that they are still under attack.
Hezbollah responds with the attack, they say in a communiqué on a bombing of the village of Meiss al-Jabal, in southern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese news agency ANI, three civilians – a couple and their child – were killed.
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The military arm of extremist Palestinian organization Hamas also claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks on the Israeli Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday afternoon. According to a statement from the Qassam Brigades, Israeli soldiers were targeted in the attack.
Al Jazeera
The Israeli government also decided on Sunday to close the Qatari channel Al Jazeera in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this on the social networking site X.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi says this is a measure “with immediate effect.” Al Jazeera “can no longer operate from Israel,” he reports via X. Karhi describes the channel as an “incitement machine” that damages “the security of the state.”
