Netanyahu’s refusal to sign truce deal infuriates Israelis
Israel’s prime minister’s insistence on an open-ended control over Gaza’s southern border area with Egypt – known as the Philadelphi Corridor – is derailing cease-fire efforts to end the regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.
Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing pressure domestically to sign a cease-fire agreement with Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, especially after the bodies of the six more captives held in Gaza were recently retrieved from the Palestinian territory.
The international community is also exerting pressure on Israeli officials to end their devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed the lives of nearly 41,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – since last October.
On Thursday, thousands of Israelis took to the streets for the fifth straight night to protest against Netanyahu’s policies in Gaza.
The protesters marched through Tel Aviv, carrying 27 mock coffins representing 27 captives killed in Gaza, demanding a deal to secure the release of remaining captives held by Hamas in Gaza. Significant crowds also gathered in other cities across the occupied territories.
It was the fifth straight night of demonstrations, following the last Saturday recovery of the bodies of six captives.
On October 7, Hamas arrested 251 people during an unprecedented attack on Israel’s positions in the occupied territories.
Of 251 captives seized by Palestinian fighters, 97 remain in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November.
News of the deaths of the six captives sparked outrage in Israel, and drew charges that Netanyahu has been refusing to pursue negotiations with Hamas in earnest, avoiding concessions that might have allowed the Israelis to come home alive but would have endangered his ruling coalition.
“Gaza must be demilitarized, and this can only happen if the Philadelphi Corridor remains under firm control,” Netanyahu told foreign journalists on Wednesday.
Netanyahu said Israel must maintain control of the corridor – which was seized by Israeli forces in May – to prevent weapons being smuggled into Gaza and that Israel would only consider withdrawing from the strategic location when presented with an alternative plan to police the area.
In a statement released on Thursday, Hamas blamed Netanyahu for the ongoing impasse in cease-fire talks and accused the Israeli leader of wanting to prolong the war on Gaza.
“Netanyahu’s decision not to withdraw from the Salah al-Din [Philadelphi Corridor] axis aims to thwart reaching an agreement,” Hamas said in the statement.
“We warn against falling into Netanyahu’s trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” Hamas said, adding that Israel must adhere to a deal that was agreed earlier this year.
Washington has been pushing a proposal it says could bridge the gaps between the warring sides, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying, “90 percent is agreed.”
“It’s really incumbent on both parties to get to yes on these remaining issues,” Blinken said during a visit to Haiti.
But Netanyahu said there is “not a deal in the making.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not close but we will do everything we can to get them to the point where they do make a deal,” he told US media.`