Hamas rejected another Gaza ceasefire deal proposed by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar. The proposal would have led to the release of a few Israeli hostages in exchange for convicted Palestinian terrorists, news reports say.
The ceasefire offer “would have seen four Israeli hostages and 100 Palestinian terrorists released over a 10-day period after an initial 48-hour pause in fighting,” the Jewish News Syndicate (JSN) reported Tuesday.
The Gaza-based terrorist group rejected the latest offer, demanding a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and a permanent ceasefire, media reports suggest. This is not the first rejection of its kind, Hamas has repeatedly turned down U.S. ceasefire offers by making higher demands.
Hamas’ rejection comes as Israeli intelligence believed that nearly half of the remaining 101 hostages taken to Gaza on October 7 may have been killed. “Analysis shows only 51 hostages of the 101 held by Hamas are still alive,” the newspaper Israel Hayom reported Sunday.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Tuesday.
Amid escalating tensions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed disappointment over Hamas’s refusal to accept a proposed temporary ceasefire in Gaza.This rejection was confirmed during a phone conversation with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, where Blinken emphasized Hamas’s ongoing refusal to release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire.The proposal for a limited truce was developed collaboratively by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. A Hamas official stated that the group’s rejection stemmed from the absence of a permanent ceasefire in the proposal. (…)In light of the deteriorating situation, the Biden administration is adopting a firmer stance, with Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warning Israel that the delivery of certain military equipment could be suspended if substantial progress in humanitarian aid delivery is not observed by next week.
In a surprise move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Currently serving Foreign Minister Israel Katz is expected to replace him.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday evening that he was removing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from his position and replacing him with Israel Katz, citing a “crisis of trust” that “gradually deepened”, ” the Jerusalem Post reported.
With Hamas refusing to negotiate a hostage release, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued operations across Gaza, particularly in the southern terrorist stronghold of Rafah.
“IDF troops continue to operate in the Rafah area and have located hundreds of weapons, including mortars, RPG missiles, explosives, AK-47s, and more, eliminated terrorists, and dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites over the past day,” the Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday.
Israeli ground troops conducted operations in the northern Hamas bastion of Jabaliya, as well as terrorist-infested areas of central Gaza. “IDF troops in the area of Jabaliya eliminated dozens of terrorists during close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes and dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites,” the military statement added. “In the central Gaza Strip, IDF troops continue their operational activity and have dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites and eliminated terrorists in the area.”
The Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon, which began in early October, also continued, with IDF destroying Hezbollah’s terrorist force and infrastructure in the area.
The IDF also carried out ” limited, localized, and targeted activity in southern Lebanon, eliminating terrorists from the air and ground, locating weapons, and dismantling terrorist infrastructure,” the military disclosed. “The troops identified a number of terrorists who were operating in a terrorist infrastructure site, that posed an anti-tank missile threat to the troops. The IAF swiftly struck the infrastructure site and eliminated the terrorists.”
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday struck Hezbollah weapons in western Syria.
“A short while ago, the IAF conducted an intelligence-based strike on weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah’s munitions unit in the area of Al Qusayr in Syria,” the IDF said Tuesday. “Hezbollah’s munitions unit is responsible for the storage of weapons in Lebanon and has recently expanded its activities into Syria in the area of Al Qusayr, near the Syria-Lebanon border. This is a further example of Hezbollah establishing logistical infrastructure to transfer weapons from Syria to Lebanon through smuggling routes.”
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