JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden during a phone call on Thursday that Tel Aviv will not end the war on the Gaza Strip until “all its objectives are achieved.”
The conversation came after Israel received Hamas’ response to a prisoner exchange and Gaza cease-fire proposal, according to Israeli Channel 12.
Netanyahu informed Biden that Israel would end the war on Gaza after achieving all of its objectives, the broadcaster said.
Netanyahu has previously outlined three goals for the war: eliminating Hamas, securing the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, and ensuring that the Palestinian enclave would not pose a threat to Israel’s security.
Thursday’s phone call followed Israeli media reports that Netanyahu agreed to send a negotiating team for hostage swap and cease-fire talks with Hamas.
On Wednesday, Israel said it had received Hamas’ response to the Gaza cease-fire proposal via Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
While neither party disclosed the content of Hamas’ response, Israeli media reported on Thursday that the response could serve as a basis for resuming negotiations.
Families of Israeli captives in Gaza on Thursday threatened Netanyahu to stage mass protests if he fails to reach a cease-fire and prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.
Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been trying for months to secure a truce and the release of the 120 remaining hostages in Gaza, but to no avail.
Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel, however, argues it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting and wants to end the governance capabilities of the resistance group.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6. -AA
