Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have rebuffed President Joe Biden’s ceasefire offer to end the military operation against the terror group Hamas in Rafah.
Biden presented it in his televised speech Friday as a new Israeli proposal, but it’s clear that was not true. He did it as the Sabbath was starting in Israel and used that quiet time to gather international support for what supposedly was a new Israeli proposal—but it was all a deception. Israel’s Prime Minister was forced to break Sabbath silence to tweet that Israel’s position had not changed and Hamas could not remain in power.
Biden declared Friday that it was “time for this war to end,” suggesting that Israel should halt all military operations against Hamas in Gaza. The president’s offer calls for a “full and complete ceasefire,” a move that would keep Hamas in power.
Biden declared it was an ‘Israeli offer,’ a claim since rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. A senior Biden White House official also contradicted the president, stating that Biden was in fact pushing a deal favored by Hamas. The unnamed staffer told CNN that Biden’s offer was “nearly identical to Hamas’ own proposals.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Biden’s ceasefire deal as a ‘non-starter. There will be no truce until Hamas is destroyed in Gaza, the Israeli leader asserted.
The Israeli prime minister’s office on Saturday morning issued a statement, clarifying that there was no new Israeli ceasefire deal on the table. Israel wants to see the release of all hostage and the destruction of Hamas as a terrorist fighting force in Gaza.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, the tweet read.
Hamas welcomed the offer, calling for an end to the Israeli offensive, complete military withdrawal from Gaza, and the mass-release of convicted terrorists from Israeli prisons.
Former President Barack Obama also hailed the White House proposal, describing it as “clear, realistic and just.”
The Times of Israel reported prime minister Netanyahu’s response:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday there would be no “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed.His comments, in a rare statement published on the Sabbath and only in English, came after United States President Joe Biden announced that Israel had proposed a three-phase deal for a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages.“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said.“Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” he added.Netanyahu’s comments, the second statement issued by his office since Biden’s speech, appeared aimed at framing the type of truce Israel would initially agree to, not ruling one out.
Hamas on Friday night released a statement welcoming Biden’s proposal, saying the terror group “views” the White House’s deal “positively.” The CNN reported Hamas’s statement.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas views positively what was included in US President Joe Biden’s speech today,” the statement said. “The movement affirms its position of readiness to deal positively and constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that.”
Undeterred by mounting U.S. and international pressure, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is pursuing the military offensive against the Hamas stronghold of Rafah. “The IDF is continuing its precise and targeted operations in Rafah, according to plan,” the Israeli military disclosed in a statement Saturday.
The Israel ground forces were locating Hamas terror tunnels along the Philadelphi route, a nine mile corridor between Egypt and Gaza. The destruction of cross-border tunnels in the area will cut off Hamas’s supply and escape route as IDF tightens the noose around Rafah terror stronghold.
“The operation continues to gradually evolve, with forces focusing on uprooting Hamas terror infrastructure on the Philadelphi route as well as special forces that are conducted intelligence-based targeted-raids from the outskirts of Central Rafah,” the IDF statement revealed.
The terror tunnels are replete with weapons and explosives, often deliberately built under civilian neighborhoods. “The forces have exposed an extensive Hamas subterranean tunnel network consisting of dozens of terror tunnels; dozens of rockets launchers; and dozens of RPGs, AK-47s and eliminated hundreds of terrorists along the Philadelphi route and the outskirts of the Urban areas of Rafah,” the statement added.
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