Israeli PM Netanyahu vows to pressure Hamas after ceasefire proposal
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A Palestinian woman visiting her relative's grave on the first day of Eid al-Fitr in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 30.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM/CAIRO – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated a demand on March 30 for Hamas to disarm and for its leaders to leave Gaza, as he promised to step up pressure on the group while continuing efforts to return hostages.
He said Israel would work to implement US President Donald Trump’s “voluntary emigration plan” for Gaza and said his Cabinet had agreed to keep pressuring Hamas, which says it has agreed to a ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Mr Netanyahu’s comments were a recipe for “endless escalation” in the region.
Mr Netanyahu rejected assertions that Israel, which has resumed its bombardment of Gaza after a two-month truce and sent troops back into the enclave, was not negotiating, saying “we are conducting it under fire, and therefore it is also effective”.
In a video statement issued on March 30, he said: “We see that there are suddenly cracks.”
On March 29, Mr Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group had agreed to a proposal
On March 30, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, the health authorities in Gaza said at least 24 people, including several children, had been killed in Israeli strikes. Nine were killed in a single tent in the southern city of Khan Younis, they said.
Since Israel resumed its attacks in Gaza on March 18, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate areas in northern Gaza, where they had returned following the ceasefire agreement in January.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel was demanding that Hamas lay down its arms and that its leaders would be allowed to leave Gaza. He gave no details on how long Israeli troops would remain in the enclave but repeated that Hamas’ military and government capacities must be crushed.
“We will ensure general security in the Gaza Strip and enable the implementation of the Trump plan, the voluntary emigration plan,” he said. “That is the plan, we do not hide it, we are ready to discuss it at any time.”
Mr Trump originally proposed moving Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population to neighbouring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, and developing the Gaza Strip as a US-owned resort. But no country has agreed to take in the population, and Israel has since said that any departures by Palestinians would be voluntary.
Eid in Gaza
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after a devastating Hamas attack on Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip on Oct 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people,
The Israeli campaign has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to its health authorities, and devastated much of the coastal enclave, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in tents and makeshift shelters.
The strikes on March 30 took place as Palestinians celebrated the Eid holiday, marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
“We are here to celebrate the rituals of God amid the destruction and the sounds of cannons,” said Ms Minnatallah Al-Far, in Jabalia, northern Gaza, where most of the area has turned to rubble due to Israeli bombardment.
“In Gaza, our situation is very difficult. Other people are celebrating these rituals in peace and safety, but we do them amid destruction and bombardment,” she said.
In Israel, Mr Netanyahu has faced a wave of demonstrations since the military resumed its action in Gaza, with families and supporters of the remaining 59 hostages joining forces with protesters angry at government actions they see as undermining Israeli democracy.
On March 30, he rejected what he described as “empty claims and slogans” and said military pressure was the only thing that had returned hostages. REUTERS
