Netanyahu visited Israeli soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday 25 of December and pledged that the war will continue until Hamas is eliminated and emphasised three conditions for peace in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu confirmed, at a meeting of the Likud Party bloc in the Knesset, that the war will continue. He continued to fight for the freeing of Prisoners and told his colleagues: “I am now returning from Gaza, and I met the reserve brigade there. They all asked me one thing: not to stop and to press forward until the end.”
He stated that Israel would not succeed in releasing the remaining hostages held by Hamas without exerting military pressure.
Officials in Israel leaked that Tel Aviv agreed to the first stages of the Egyptian proposal regarding the detainees. However, they mentioned that the other stages are considered problematic because they include a commitment to a ceasefire.
Egypt set out a proposal for a humanitarian truce in exchange for the release of detainees, in which Hamas would release female soldiers and corpses in the second stage in exchange for Israel releasing prisoners.
The third phase would include Hamas releasing Israeli men and soldiers in exchange for the liberation of Palestine and a permanent ceasefire.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Netanyahu identified three conditions to achieve “peace,” as he described it, in the Gaza Strip.
The first condition is to destroy Hamas permanently.To achieve this goal, according to Netanyahu, “Hamas’ military capabilities must be dismantled, and its political rule in Gaza must be ended.”
Second, Netanyahu said, “Gaza must be demilitarised, and Israel must ensure that the area is not used again as a base to attack it.”
He pointed out that “Israel will have to retain the dominant security responsibility over Gaza.”The last condition is the eradication of extremism.”
Regarding his third condition, Netanyahu said that extremism in Gaza must be eradicated. Schools must teach children how to cherish life rather than death, Imams need to stop calling for the killing of Jews, and Palestinian civil society needs to transform so that people can support the fight against terrorism instead of funding it.
It is noteworthy that the toll of the Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip has so far reached 20,674 dead and approximately 55,000 wounded, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the Ministry of Health affiliated with the Hamas movement in the Strip.
The Israeli army announced that it suffered more losses. According to Israeli statistics, the death toll since the start of the ground operation has reached 156 and has approached 500 since the beginning of the Hamas operation on October 7.
Edited by Chloe Mansola.
Image- ‘Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III participates in a joint press briefing with Israeli Prime Minister ’ licensed by CC BY 2.0 DEED
