Title: Netanyahu says NO to agreement with Hamas. Does his stubborness make sense?
7 February 2024, by Agnieszka Zagner
Beniamin Netanyahu claims that a shutout in Gaza is "within arm's reach" and that military pressure is the only way to have hostages released.
"Submitting to delusional requests of Hamas, about which we've just heard, wouldn't make hostages free. It would only cause next slaughter. It would be a disaster for Israel, and all Israeli citizens are against it." - stated Netanjahu. Prime minister of Israel rejected the deal with Hamas, negotiated under Quatar and Egypt mediation. The deal is:
- 4.5 month long cease fire and peace talks on condition of ending the war
- releasing hostages, in three stages (i.e. 136 hostages making free every 45 days) in return for:
- releasing 1500 [Palestinian] prisoners from Israeli prisons (500 of them have been punished by Israelis to life sentence, including Marwan Barghuti. [Polityka claims that] he could possibly be next palestinian president).
Accordinng to this offer, in the first group of hostages made free would be women ([Polityka asks:] does that include soldiers?), kids, men younger than 19 y.o., elder and ill persons. In return for that - Palestinian women and kids should be released. Then, cease fire negotiations should take place. On completion of that [does that mean: once there's a cease fire, right?], men should be released. In the third phase, bodies of hostages - as Israel officialy claims, that 32 or maybe even 50 of all 136 persons are dead now. Hamas requests (during the 3rd phase) completion of peace talks, that finish war. After war, IDF is to completely move out of Gaza. Gaza should be rebuild, also with help from UNRWA.
Israel from the very beginning of talks was reluctant to commit to anything and refusing ending war or even specifying date of end of war. It wants to stay in Gaza. Even if, then Israel repeats that it will be invading Gaza whenever it wants.
The number of hostages, that Hamas requests, would be acceptable. Negotiations have started with 8000 prisoners (almost all detained in Israeli prisons). In hostage swaps in the past, for releasing 10 israelis, 30 palestinians were released. Now the ratio would be higher, but the Israeli remember, that they've remember that they've released over 1100 palestinians for releasing Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier.
Netanyahu not only claims, that a shutout is "within arm's reach". He claims that it's almost here, just one step necessary. He announces another great battle, now against Rafah city (the ["safe" as Israeli advertised] place, where most citizens of Gaza was chased into. There's no other place where they could flee now, even if ordered to flee [again] the South of Gaza). Do Israelis now want them to flee back to completely flattenen northern Gaza? Israeli media keep buzzing: Hamas is getting stronger again in the north of Gaza. Netanyahu denied that, because it would be a proof, that not everything that he says makes sense or is logical. [Apparently it's not, as] after 122 days of "operation" [euphemism for burning, shoah of Gaza concentration camp, assault on West Bank (turned by them by another getto), mass propaganda against us, Gosh... STOP.