Netanyahu rejects ceasefire proposal and insists on "total victory" in Gaza.
Hamas proposed a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire, during which the hostages would be released, Israel would withdraw its troops, and an agreement would be reached on ending the war.
DOHA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that total victory in Gaza is within reach, rejecting the idea that... Hamas's most recent proposal for a ceasefire which would guarantee the return of the hostages who are still being held in the enclave.
Netanyahu renewed his vow to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, saying there was no alternative to Israel other than the collapse of Hamas. "The day after is the day after Hamas. All of Hamas," he stated in a press conference, insisting that total victory against Hamas is the only solution to the war in Gaza.
Hamas proposed a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire in Gaza, during which all hostages would be released, Israel would withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip, and an agreement would be reached on ending the war.
The Hamas proposal, the contents of which were first published by Reuters, is a response to an earlier suggestion aligned by US and Israeli intelligence chiefs and delivered to Hamas last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the proposal with Netanyahu after arriving in Israel following talks with leaders from Qatar and Egypt, the countries that have been acting as mediators. Blinken then met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. >>> READ ALSO: Qatar's Prime Minister says Hamas' response to Gaza truce agreement "was positive"
Israel launched its military offensive after militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1.200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on October 7. Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 27.585 Palestinians were killed, and thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. There has been only one truce so far, which lasted just a week, at the end of November.
Israel has previously stated that it will not withdraw its troops from Gaza or end the war until Hamas is eliminated.
But sources described a new approach from Hamas to its persistent demand to end the war, now proposing it as an issue to be resolved in future negotiations and no longer a condition for a truce.
A source close to the negotiations stated that Hamas's counterproposal would not require a guarantee of a permanent ceasefire as a starting point, but that an end to the war would have to be agreed upon before the last hostages were released.