“We are almost close to victory, which is the total destruction of Hamas. If we surrender to Hamas we will not only not release the hostages, but a second massacre. The day after the war will be the day after Hamas. I told Blinken that we must completely demilitarize Gaza.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this.
“I told Blinken that Israel is one step away from total victory.” Netanyahu said this, reiterating that the objective is “Israel’s total victory”. The prime minister then announced that he had given orders to the army to advance towards Rafah, in the south of the Strip, a stone’s throw from Egypt, and confirmed that “only military pressure acts to free the hostages. Our soldiers are not fallen in vain.”
A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statements this evening demonstrate “a form of political bluster, which indicates his intention to continue the conflict in the region.” Hamas is “ready to face all options”, Abu Zuhri added, as reported by the Guardian.
Israel’s army is performing brilliantly in Gaza, arousing admiration in other armies as well. Netanyahu supported this by citing on the one hand the successes recorded so far by Israeli troops in the Strip, and on the other by mentioning the US experience in Iraq. “In Mosul – he said – it took nine months to defeat 5,000 terrorists, in a city smaller than Gaza and without underground military infrastructure comparable to those of Gaza. In 4 months we killed or injured 20,000 terrorists , more than half of Hamas’ forces.”
It’s important “US recognition of the Palestinian state and of its full membership of the UN through a decision of its Security Council”. President Abu Mazen said this while meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah in the West Bank to whom he reiterated that Israel must “immediately stop its aggression in Gaza”. Abu Mazen then reiterated – according to the Wafa agency – the need for an International Peace Conference, underlining that “peace and security are achieved through the implementation of the 2 States” with a Palestinian one with the West Bank, Jerusalem East and Gaza.
The private meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Chief of Staff, General Herzi Halevy, which appeared in the visit program released yesterday by the Americans, will not take place. The reason, argues Israel ha-Yom, is due toopposition expressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. A political source, quoted by the newspaper, noted that in diplomatic relations it is not normal for a foreign minister to meet a military leader of the other country without the presence of a political leader. “Israel is not a banana republic,” the source added.
For the hostage agreement with Israel, Hamas proposes a 135-day ceasefire plan in three phases (45 days each). This was reported by Reuters, which has seen the draft of Hamas’ response to the proposal sent last week by Qatar and Egypt. But an Israeli source says that many of the demands in the counterproposal are unacceptable from every point of view.
Israel will ask mediators “to put pressure on Hamas to present a new proposal.” An Israeli source quoted by Ynet said this, according to which Hamas’ counter-proposal “contains many issues on which there is no possibility that Israel will agree”.
The first phase of the plan indicated by Hamas provides for the release of women, the elderly, the sick and males under 19 in exchange for detained Palestinian women and minors; the second phase the exchange of the other men with other detainees and the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from Gaza; the third is the restitution of the bodies. Hamas is also asking for aid and the start of reconstruction of the Strip.
In an addendum to the proposal, Reuters adds on its website, Hamas declares that it wants the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, a third of them among those sentenced to life imprisonment. Furthermore, by the end of the third phase, Hamas expects the parties to have reached an agreement on the end of the war.
For further information, ANSA Agency Hamas opens up about the hostages but wants an end to the war. Israel: ‘Impossible, we won’t stop’ – Middle East – Ansa.it Biden: ‘Let’s think about it’. Blinken will discuss Hamas’ response with Israel tomorrow. According to the NYT, a fifth of the 136 kidnapped Israelis died (ANSA)
A Hamas police chief eliminated in Rafah
An Israeli rocket hit the car of a Hamas police chief, Majdi Abdel-Al, in the Shabura district of Rafah (in the south of the Gaza Strip), causing his death. This was reported by local sources according to whom the officer commanded the Shabura police station as well as the ‘special units’ active in the city. His killing follows that of six Hamas police officers hit two days ago, in an identical attack, while they were traveling in a jeep in another district of Rafah. With these attacks, local sources say, Israel aims to hinder Hamas’ attempts to maintain control over the city.
Israel, ‘received update from Qatar, Mossad evaluates’
“We have received an update, we have had an alert from the Qatari mediators. We are monitoring them. The Mossad is carefully examining what was presented to us.” This was stated by Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman on the ongoing negotiations on the hostage agreement.
Blinken, I hope for an agreement on hostages but still a lot to do
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he hoped for an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the hostages but that “there is still a lot of work to do”. After the meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken also reported that they discussed “additional measures” to bring “necessary aid” to the Gaza Strip.
During the conversation, which according to Ynet was defined as ”good and prolonged”, Blinken addressed, among other things, various humanitarian issues with Netanyahu. In particular, he highlighted American concern about a possible extension of Israeli military activities in Rafah, in the south of the Strip, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are concentrated. Informed sources added that Blinken said he understood the “problematic nature of Hamas’ response” to the mediators. Netanyahu then showed the Secretary of State images of a large military tunnel dug by Hamas under the headquarters of UNRWA (the UN refugee agency) in the Rimal district of Gaza City. According to the prime minister, it was ”one of Hamas’ strategic tunnels”.
Egyptian media, new round of hostage talks tomorrow
A new round of talks on Israeli hostages in Gaza mediated by Egypt and Qatar will begin tomorrow in Cairo. This was reported by Egyptian media, according to Haaretz.
Egypt and Qatar are sponsoring “a new round of negotiations” that will begin tomorrow in Cairo and which aims to achieve “calm in the Gaza Strip” and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages. An Egyptian official announced this to AFP today. A Hamas source close to the matter also confirmed that the Palestinian Islamic movement has accepted this new round of negotiations, with the aim of “a ceasefire, an end to the war and an exchange of prisoners”, he said.
Source Israel: ‘Hamas’ demands are unacceptable’
Many of the demands in the Hamas counterproposal for an agreement are unacceptable to Israel in every way. An Israeli source reiterated this to Canale 13, according to whom the question on the table is now whether to reject the requests altogether or undertake negotiations in an attempt to soften them.
Hamas’ requests also include a ban on the entry of Jews to the Esplanade.
Among the requests made by Hamas for the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza within the framework of the general agreement, there is also that of prevent Jews from entering the Temple Mount (the Temple Mount for Judaism). This was reported by Kan TV according to which Hamas has also requested the construction of tens of thousands of prefabricated buildings in the Strip, the authorization for the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and the entry of 500 aid trucks per day as well as fuel and electric energy.
Lebanese media, ‘Hamas wants 1,500 prisoners, plus all minors and elderly people’
In the proposed agreement, Hamas requests, in addition to the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners (of which 500 sentenced to life imprisonment), also the release of “all Palestinian prisoners in Israel who are younger than 19 years or older than 50 years, so like those who are sick.” This was reported by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar – considered close to Hezbollah and Hamas itself – reported by the Israeli media. According to international media calculations, the total number would be between 3,000 and 5,000 prisoners.
Message to Qatar, ‘Israel ready to attack Rafah if negotiations fail’
If the hostage negotiations fail, Israel “is ready to attack Hamas positions in Rafah”, in the southern Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt. The Israeli broadcaster Kan TV said this, according to which the message was forwarded from Israel to Qatar.
Netanyahu would have mandated a 7-day truce for each phase of the agreement
On the eve of the mediation at the end of January in Paris, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a mandate to Mossad chief David Barnea to agree on a one-week transitional “ceasefire” during each of the three phases of the agreement proposed by Hamas. The decision – according to Kan TV – was taken without consulting the War Cabinet and was discussed in Paris during the mediation of the USA, Egypt and Qatar with Israel.
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