Netanyahu warns Hamas that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza without agreement on hostages

He attributes the Tel Aviv protests to an “extreme and violent minority” and assures that he has the support of an “absolute majority” of people

April 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned this Sunday the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza without an accompanying agreement for the release of the hostages who have been held by the Palestinian militias since October 7.

“There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. We are willing to reach a release agreement, but we are not willing to give in to the 'exaggerated' demands of Hamas,” the prime minister said after a spokesman for the Palestinian movement demanded a permanent ceasefire and the immediate departure of all Israeli troops from Gaza as an essential condition before discussing the return of the hostages.

Netanyahu made these statements after the meeting held with his war cabinet when the conflict in the Palestinian enclave is six months old and a Hamas delegation travels to Cairo (Egypt) to hold new talks this afternoon with international mediation.

“I would like to clarify one thing: Israel is not the one preventing an agreement. Hamas is preventing an agreement,” Netanyahu said in statements reported by Israeli media.

“Their extreme demands were aimed at ending the war with their position intact, to ensure their survival and rehabilitation. Giving in to Hamas' demands will allow them to attempt to repeat the crimes of October 7 over and over again, as they promised to do.” , he has indicated.

The prime minister has insisted that the Israeli Army is “one step away from victory in Gaza” after ensuring that “19 of the 24 Hamas battalions have been eliminated.”

The rest of the battalions, the Israeli Army understands, are in the town of Rafá, in the south of the Strip and home to hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people. The prime minister has assured that he is preparing the order to enter the town but the United States, his great ally, has asked him for a specific plan on the civilian population before granting its support to the operation.

Finally, and regarding the weekly protests demanding the calling of new elections and a quick agreement for the release of the hostages, Netanyahu has lamented the behavior of “an extreme and violent minority that is trying to drag the country into division.”

“There is nothing our enemies want more. They want internal division and gratuitous hatred to stop us just before victory,” the prime minister declared before ensuring that “an absolute majority of the (Israeli) people are united in need to continue fighting until victory” and “condemns any manifestation of violence” during the marches.