Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid again offered to provide a “safety net” in the Knesset for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pass a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal with Hamas.”The government of Israel should agree to Netanyahu’s proposal and send a delegation to Cairo today to finalize the details and bring home young men and women, old men and women soldiers trapped in the tunnels,” Lapid announced on the “X” social network yesterday.
On Friday, the United States (U.S.) President Joseph Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal to end the conflict in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the enclave.
“I repeat my offer to give Netanyahu a political safety net to implement the deal,” Lapid said.
Right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened on Saturday to dissolve Netanyahu’s government if the proposal put forward by Biden is adopted.
“Ben Gvir and Smotrich cannot prevent the abductees from returning home. They are dying there,” said Lapid.
Netanyahu did not comment on Lapid’s offer, but said he was “not ready to stop the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip,” claiming that the U.S. president’s statements about the cease-fire proposal were “incorrect.”
“The plan presented by Biden is partial. The war will be stopped in order to return the hostages and then we will talk,” said the Israeli prime minister and added:
“There are other undisclosed details. We could suspend the fighting for 42 days to facilitate the return of the hostages, but we will not give up our goal of total victory.”
Israel continues its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip after the October 7th Hamas attack despite a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
More than 36,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority women and children, and more than 82,600 injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel has been accused of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately suspend the operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge from the war.
