Hamas calls for pressure on Israel, Netanyahu rules out quick deal

Palestinian Hamas on Thursday called on the United States to exert “real” pressure on Israel for a Gaza truce coupled with the release of hostages, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a deal was still “far away”.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said “there was 90 percent approval of a ceasefire agreement,” but that “very detailed” and difficult issues remained to be resolved, nearly 11 months after the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

Along with Qatar and Egypt, the United States, Israel's main ally, has been making mediation efforts for months to convince the two sides to reach an agreement. In vain.

Israel and the Islamist movement continue to accuse each other of blocking negotiations, at a time when the Israeli army is continuing its retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip that has left tens of thousands dead.

Israelis carry symbolic coffins during an anti-government protest calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, outside the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on September 5, 2024 © AFP – Jack GUEZ

“If the US administration and its president really want to reach a ceasefire and conclude a prisoner exchange agreement, they must abandon their blind bias for the Zionist occupation and put real pressure on Netanyahu,” said Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas's Qatar-based political bureau.

– “Red lines” –

Palestinian children wait to receive food rations in the al-Mawassi displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip, September 3, 2024 © AFP – Bashar TALEB

Since the announcement on Sunday of the discovery in Gaza of the bodies of six Israeli hostages, killed at “point-blank range” by Hamas according to the army, Mr. Netanyahu has been under strong pressure to reach an agreement allowing the release of the hostages still held in Gaza since October 7.

But the Prime Minister remains inflexible, having sworn to destroy Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007 and is considered a terrorist movement by the United States and the European Union.

Among the sticking points for an agreement: the Philadelphia corridor, an area on the border between Gaza and Egypt, which Israel wants to keep control of, as well as the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for the hostages.

“There is no agreement being negotiated,” Netanyahu told Fox News. “Unfortunately, we are far from reaching that.”

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“What we have to do: first, get the hostages out… Second, maintain the red lines that are necessary for Israel's security and survival, and both of these include maintaining (under Israeli control) the Philadelphia Corridor, because that puts pressure on Hamas, prevents it from rearming and prevents Gaza from becoming an Iranian terrorist enclave again,” he added. Iran, which supports Hamas, is Israel's sworn enemy.

– “We will force them” –

Hamas insists on the implementation as is of a plan announced on May 31 by American President Joe Biden, which provides for a six-week truce accompanied by a partial Israeli withdrawal and the release of hostages, then eventually a total Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

“We do not need new proposals,” Mr. Haya repeated.

At a new demonstration in Tel Aviv, Gil Dickmann, cousin of one of the six hostages found dead in Gaza, declared: “We will do everything so that all the hostages are with us. And if the leaders do not want to sign an agreement, we will force them.”

The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, 33 of whom have been declared dead by the army.

Aerial view of symbolic coffins during an anti-government protest calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, September 5, 2024 © AFP – Jack GUEZ

The Israeli reprisals, which have caused a humanitarian and health catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip, have left 40,878 dead there, according to the Hamas government's Health Ministry, which does not detail the number of civilians and fighters killed. According to the UN, the majority of the dead are women and children.

– Deadly Israeli raids –

A child receives a polio vaccine in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on September 5, 2024 © AFP – Bashar TALEB

On Thursday, at least 12 Palestinians, including children, were killed in Israeli strikes in the devastated Gaza Strip, according to medical sources and rescue workers.

Thanks to “humanitarian pauses” in some areas, the World Health Organization was able to administer a first dose of polio vaccine to nearly 200,000 children in central Gaza. It was due to begin its vaccination campaign in the south on Thursday before moving to the north on September 9.

In the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated from Gaza, the Israeli army has continued its offensive in several regions, killing at least 36 Palestinians since August 28, according to Palestinian authorities.

An Israeli armored vehicle rolls through rubble in central Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, on September 5, 2024 © AFP – Zain JAAFAR

On Thursday in Tubas (north), five Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Among them, according to the army, is “a major terrorist”.

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