Families of Israeli prisoners being held in the Gaza Strip have called on their government to accept a ceasefire proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden, and have called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly back the proposal.
At its weekly press conference on Saturday, the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Hostages said it was calling on “Israelis to take to the streets to ensure the implementation of the agreement.”
After Biden said at a White House press conference on Friday that Israel had presented a “comprehensive new proposal” to end the war, the forum believes Netanyahu may be sabotaging the deal.
The three-phase plan outlined by Biden aims to implement a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which would include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all populated areas of the Gaza Strip and the release of all Israeli nationals held captive in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has indicated it is open to the proposal, raising hopes of an end to Israel's eight-month war.
“We reaffirm our readiness to actively engage and cooperate with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of displaced persons and the conclusion of a genuine prisoner exchange agreement, as long as this is clearly stated by the occupying forces,” the group said in a statement.
But Prime Minister Netanyahu was adamant on Saturday that Hamas must be destroyed to end Israel's war on Gaza.
“Israel's conditions for ending the war remain the same: destroying Hamas' military and governing power, releasing all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” his office said in a statement.
It said these conditions must be met “before a permanent ceasefire can be implemented.”
“It is not possible that Israel would agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are met,” he added.
The Forum of Families of Missing Hostages said Netanyahu was under pressure from within his government.
“There is a minority that is blackmailing Prime Minister Netanyahu and threatening the agreement. We support the agreement and must not give way to extremists,” the spokesman said.
Abdullah Al Arian, a history professor at Qatar's Georgetown University, said both Israel and its staunch ally the United States do not want a future in which Hamas has any political role in Gaza and noted a “big contradiction” in Israel's demands.
“At the same time, this is an agreement that has to be reached through negotiations with Hamas and how do you do that? How do you eliminate them as a political force and at the same time reach a negotiated solution that all parties agree to,” he told Al Jazeera.
Another “major obstacle” to a final agreement is Israel's retention as an occupying force in parts of Gaza, which the Palestinians continue to reject, he said.
Alon Liel, a former Israeli foreign ministry chief, said Biden's announcement was “music to the ears of Israelis who want to end the war.”
But “again we are seeing conflicting messages coming from Washington,” he told Al Jazeera. “What’s surprising is that [the ceasefire proposal] “This was presented as an Israeli proposal. This contradicts a lot of what Prime Minister Netanyahu has said recently and looks like an American proposal presented as an Israeli proposal,” Leal said.
Meanwhile, the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad expressed “doubts” about the plan, after Biden announced that a “cessation of aggression” must include a “complete withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Blinken Lobbies Middle East Leaders
As Biden announced the new plan, Israel continued its deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip, with artillery fire hitting residential areas in the northern part of Gaza City, killing several Palestinians.
A separate Israeli attack in Gaza City in the early hours also killed a journalist who identified himself as Ola al-Dahdou, according to Palestinian television station Al-Aqsa.
Israeli forces also launched tank and artillery attacks on Rafah in southern Gaza, and witnesses in eastern and central Rafah reported heavy shelling.
In the shadow of Israel's continuing bombing raids, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey as part of efforts to rally support for a new ceasefire plan for Gaza.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud received a call from Blinken and discussed the latest proposals, the Saudi state press agency said.
According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, during the call on a flight back from a NATO meeting in Prague, Blinken “emphasized that Hamas should accept the agreement without delay.”
“[Blinken] “This proposal is in the interests of both Israel and Palestine and serves the long-term security interests of the region,” Miller added.
In Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid has urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to the deal, saying his party will support it despite opposition from the right wing of his ruling coalition, meaning the deal has a good chance of passing in parliament.
“The Israeli government cannot ignore President Biden's momentous speech. The deal is on the table and it must be made,” Lapid said in a social media post on Saturday.
Families of those held captive in Gaza also called on all parties to immediately support Biden's proposal, warning that both Israel and Hamas have a responsibility to accept the agreement and that time is running out.
Indonesia's President-elect Prabowo Subianto, meanwhile, welcomed Biden's ceasefire proposal as a step in the right direction and said he was ready to send peacekeepers to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza if necessary.
“If necessary, and if requested by the UN, we stand ready to deploy significant peacekeeping forces to maintain and monitor this anticipated ceasefire and provide protection and security to all parties and all sides,” he told a security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have left at least 36,379 people dead and 82,407 wounded since the start of the war, with thousands more missing or believed to be dead and buried under rubble. Israel launched its offensive into the besieged area after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel killed about 1,140 people.
