(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire proposition by Hamas and said that “total victory” against the terrorist group could be achieved within months.
Netanyahu said during a Feb. 6, 2024, news conference that was held shortly after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it’s only a “matter of months” before Israel achieves its military goals — the eradication of all Hamas’s fighting forces in Gaza and destruction of the entire underground tunnel network, the Epoch Times reported.
“There is no other solution but a complete and final victory. If Hamas will survive in Gaza, it’s only a question of time until the next massacre,” he said.
Netanyahu then dismissed ceasefire demands that were raised by Hamas by calling them “bizarre” and saying that negotiation with the group that rules Gaza is “not going anywhere.”
Hamas put forward a ceasefire plan on Feb. 6, 2024, that consists of three phases, each lasting 45 days.
During the first phase, Hamas would be expected to release certain groups of hostages it captured during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in southern Israel, among which are all female hostages, male hostages under 19, all elderly people and sick hostages. In exchange, Israel would need to release female and underage Palestinian prisoners from its jails and pull back troops from populated areas.
The second phase wouldn’t begin until both sides finished “indirect discussions” about the requirements that are necessary for them to stop fighting and “restore complete calm,” the news source reported. During the second 45 days, Israeli troops would be expected to completely withdraw from Gaza.
The adult hostages that were not freed during the first stage would be released during the second one. The bodies and the remains of hostages who died while in Hamas’s custody would be handed over throughout the third phase. Hamas would expect both sides to have reached an agreement on a permanent ceasefire by the end of the third phase.
