Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families Tuesday that a cease-fire deal may not be reached and that the Israeli military will not relinquish control of the Gazan-Egyptian border, a key demand of the Hamas militant group.
The Hostages Families Forum quoted Netanyahu as saying Israel “will under no circumstances leave the Philadelphia axis and the Netzer Corridor” and that he was “not sure” a deal could be struck. The group accused Netanyahu of refusing any hostage deal.
“There is no hope and no heroism in a ‘firm’ stand that will result in the continued death of all the abductees,” the group said in a social media post. “The Israeli government abandoned the abductees on 7.10 and is now abandoning them for good.”
The Biden administration has been promoting a bridging proposal amid hopes a deal could be hammered out by week’s end. After Netanyahu announced Monday that Israel could accept the plan in principle, Hamas released a statement dismissing the plan as little more than a list of Israel’s demands. Hours later, President Joe Biden accused Hamas of “backing away” from a deal.
Hamas expressed “great astonishment and disapproval” for Biden’s claim, blaming the “complete American bias towards the Zionist occupation and the full partnership in the aggression and war of genocide against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel accepts truce plan:US urges Hamas to do the same
Developments:
∎ Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Al Alamein, Egypt. Blinken thanked him for Egypt’s role as a mediating party and stressed the importance of working together to prevent regional escalation, the State Department said in a statement.
∎ Tehran supports any move to an end to the war in Gaza and help its people but “does not consider the U.S. actions sincere,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Alimohammad Naini said.
Body of war hero among hostage remains retrieved by Israel
Israel retrieved the bodies of six hostages from the Gaza Strip, the military said on Tuesday. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Abraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri were recovered by Israeli soldiers from tunnels under the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Zahiro Shahar Mor, the nephew of Munder, said Israeli authorities had “torpedoed” proposals that could have brought the hostages safely home.
“My uncle was a war hero who lived his whole life building the country,” Mor said. “Hamas took him but the continuous abandonment is on the hands of the Israeli government.”
Israeli officials say 109 hostages are believed to be held in Gaza, although many of them are thought to be dead.
Threatening words:Hamas, Iran vow to respond to killing of Ismail Haniyeh
Iran retaliation could be delayed
There could be a long wait for Iranian retaliation against Israel for killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran three weeks ago, Naini said Tuesday.
“Time is in our favor and the waiting period for this response could be long,” Naini said.
Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed after attending an inauguration ceremony for the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas and Iran immediately blamed Israel, which has pledged to take down Hamas leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 attack that left almost 1,200 people dead and about 250 taken hostage. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing.
Contributing: Reuters
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