Senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri has declared that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to end military operations “means there is no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives.”
This came as Israeli forces stepped up their attacks on Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Hamas demands a permanent halt to the bombing, the withdrawal of ground troops from Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as well as Israel accepting the armed group’s governance of Gaza, in exchange for 136 captives.
However, Netanyahu, who is under growing domestic pressure to bring the captives home, said that accepting Hamas’s conditions would mean leaving the armed group “intact” and that Israel’s soldiers had “fallen in vain.”
“I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“If we accept this, we won’t be able to guarantee the safety of our citizens. We will not be able to bring evacuees home safely and the next October 7 will only be a matter of time,” the Israeli leader added.
Netanyahu repeated his opposition to an independent Palestinian state.
He insisted that Israel will achieve “total victory,” after which “there will be no entity in Gaza that finances terrorism, educates for terrorism, or sends terror.”
He averred, “So far, we have brought home 110 hostages and we are committed to bringing them all back. I am working on this around the clock. But let it be clear: I reject outright the terms of surrender of the Hamas monsters.”
He added, “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River]. As long as I am Prime Minister, I will continue to firmly stand by this.”
France’s Defence Minister, Sebastien Lecornu is slated to meet families of the captives on Monday before holding talks with Netanyahu and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu’s Stance Criticized
European Union Chief Diplomat, Josep Borrell stated that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip “could not be worse.”
“Certainly Israel’s way of trying to destroy Hamas is wrong. From now on I will not talk about the peace process, but I want a two-state-solution process”, Borrell told journalists before an EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
He queried, “Which are the other solutions do they have in mind? To make all the Palestinians leave? To kill off them?”
Jordan’s Foreign Minister denounced the Israeli government’s “radical racist agenda,” saying it’s defying the world in its refusal to accept a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
“The only way out of this misery is a two-state solution,” Ayman Safadi told reporters at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
“They are defying the whole international community and it is about time the world took a stand,” he added.
Saudi Arabia also said that it will not normalize relations with Israel or contribute to Gaza’s reconstruction without a realistic plan for a Palestinian state.
“That’s the only way we’re going to get a benefit, so yes,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said in an interview.
When asked if Saudi Arabia would finance reconstruction in Gaza, Prince Faisal gave a similar answer.
“As long as we’re able to find a pathway to a solution, a resolution, a pathway that means that we’re not going to be here again in a year or two, then we can talk about anything.
“But if we are just resetting to the status quo before October 7 – in a way that sets us up for another round of this, as we have seen in the past – we’re not interested in that conversation.”
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
