Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Friday that the Gaza war will not conclude until Hamas’s ability to govern and wage war is completely eradicated. This announcement came shortly after US President Joe Biden indicated that Israel had proposed a new peace plan aimed at ending the violence in the Palestinian-controlled region, according to AFP. Netanyahu’s statement clarified that the Israeli plan, communicated to Hamas via Qatar, is conditional. The plan will progress through various stages until Israel achieves all its objectives, including the return of all hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’s military and governmental capacities.
The four-and-a-half page proposal, which was sent to Hamas via Qatar, reportedly outlines a six-week pause in fighting to allow Gazans to return to their homes and for a prisoner exchange to be completed, according to Reuters. The first stage would also see a ceasefire in southern Israel and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in Gaza. The next would involve a broader truce and a gradual power transfer to a Palestinian government. A third phase would include years of internationally backed reconstruction.
According to the UN’s children’s agency, over 5,000 children have been killed in the Gaza conflict, putting the country at risk of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. UNICEF’s executive director, Catherine Russell, said every child who dies in the fighting is a life extinguished and a family devastated.
However, she said the death toll is likely to rise significantly in the coming months, as Israel’s bombing campaign has forced people to flee their homes and aid agencies struggle to cope with a growing number of wounded. She added that the impact of epidemics sparked by the war is making an already bleak situation even worse.
The Palestinians were still assessing its details a day after the Israeli-American proposal was announced. Hamas, which received the proposal through mediators in Qatar, said it “considers positively” the contents of Biden’s speech. Top US diplomat Antony Blinken called his counterparts in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey on Friday to press for the proposal. The State Department said he “underscored that it’s in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians and the long-term security of the region.”
Biden’s announcement came after a week of intense bombardment by Israel that has killed more than 36,000 in Gaza. The death toll could climb above 72,000 if the impact of epidemics is included, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health have warned.
Despite the flurry of activity, it was unclear whether any progress had been made to end the conflict. A senior official in Netanyahu’s coalition said earlier on Friday that those in the governing coalition who wanted to continue the war indefinitely are still holding up peace talks. The official cited National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as one of those blocking progress without naming him directly.
