Israel has set a deadline of March 10 — the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan — for a hostage deal with Hamas, failing which it will proceed with plans to invade Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas leaders on the Egyptian border in Gaza.
The announcement, apparently representing the position of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, was made on Sunday by opposition leader Benny Gantz, who has joined the war cabinet as part of an emergency government of national unity.
The Times of Israel reported:
“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know — if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, to include the Rafah area,” Gantz said.
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“We will do so in a coordinated manner, facilitating the evacuation of civilians in dialogue with our American and Egyptian partners to minimize civilian casualties,” the former IDF chief of staff and defense minister told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, as they convened in Jerusalem.
“To those saying the price [of an offensive] is too high, I say this very clearly: Hamas has a choice — they can surrender, release the hostages, and the citizens of Gaza will be able to celebrate the holy holiday of Ramadan,” he said.
The announcement represents a new approach to hostage negotiations. Hamas has dug in and said it will not release hostages unless Israel ends the war and withdraws completely from Gaza — which would mean Hamas would survive and Israel would lose.
Israel has refused to make a new offer for a deal until Hamas moderates its demands. Now, it is seeking to ratchet up pressure on Hamas — while satisfying international calls for restraint — by giving Hamas a deadline attached to the Muslim religious holiday.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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