(PatriotPostNews.com) – While the war in the Middle East rages on, the most recent efforts of Hamas to establish a cease-fire with Israel were rejected by the Jewish nation’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestinian terrorist group—whose massacre on October 7, 2023, sparked the beginning of an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip—proposed a plan to initiate a cease-fire and end the war. However, Netanyahu blasted the suggestion as “delusional,” saying that putting an end to the armed conflict would “just invite another massacre” and give Hamas control over the Gaza Strip.
The plan by the militant group came in response to a peace deal document sent by mediators from Qatar and Egypt, which was endorsed by Israel and the United States. A draft of the Hamas counterproposal suggested a cease-fire rolling out over a three-phase period, each lasting 45 days.
During the first phase, Hamas suggested the release of all female Israeli hostages, men under the age of 19, the elderly, and sick prisoners, as well as Palestinian children and women being returned home from Israeli jails. The rest of the hostages would be sent home during phase two, and the remains of those killed during the war would be exchanged in the third and final phase.
Hamas also included a stipulation that, by the end of the three phases, the Israeli military would have completely pulled their forces from the Gaza Strip. The counterproposal is also designed to increase the amount of aid sent into Gaza to provide humanitarian support for Palestinian civilians in the region.
Netanyahu said in response to the counterproposal that longstanding peace must be gained through the “total victory” of Israel against Hamas, stating that anything less would simply encourage terror groups to continue their violence. The prime minister mentioned Hezbollah and the Houthis as groups whose actions would “threaten the entire free world.”
Netanyahu also stated that what he described as the necessary “total victory” after four months of fighting is “within our reach.”
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