Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on the importance of defeating Hamas, as American officials reportedly sought to amend some of the language in the proposal in an attempt to bridge the differences between Israel and Hamas.
“We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives,” Netanyahu said during the weekly government meeting on Sunday.
These objectives are, “Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he stated.
“There is no change in Israel’s position” on the proposal for a hostage deal that US President Joe Biden unveiled on May 31, Netanyahu stressed.
“Today, everyone knows a simple truth: Hamas is the only obstacle to the release of our hostages.
“With the combination of diplomatic and military pressure, the latter first and foremost, we will return them all – all 120 hostages, the living and the deceased,” he said.
US has amended some parts of the deal
He spoke amid reports by the Axios news outlet that the US has amended some parts of the deal in an attempt to bridge the gap between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas has insisted that Israel must commit to a permanent ceasefire and withdraw the IDF from Gaza prior to the start of the deal. It has refused to accept any deal, including this latest one, that does not include those principled points.
Israel has accepted the proposal that Biden unveiled, which is essential to its plan, that would allow for a three-phase deal to move forward, and would leave the question of a permanent ceasefire to the second phase.
Hamas has rejected that deal. The mediating countries Qatar and Egypt have continued to press for an agreement as has the United States.Reuters contributed to this report
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