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Benjamin Netanyahu vows ‘there will be no Hamas' in post-war Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu vows ‘there will be no Hamas' in post-war Gaza

Leader Live3 days ago
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement, and bring about an end to the war.
Hamas said in a brief statement on Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and was holding talks with them to 'bridge gaps' to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Mr Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war, something Israel says it will not accept until Hamas is defeated.
He said that a deal might come together as soon as next week.
But Hamas' response, which emphasised its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialise into an actual pause in fighting.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said that the militant group was 'ready and serious regarding reaching an agreement'.
He said Hamas was 'ready to accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the war'.
A Hamas delegation is expected to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the proposal, according to an Egyptian official.
Hamas has said that it is willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, fewer than half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.
Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do.
'I am announcing to you, there will be no Hamas,' Mr Netanyahu said during a speech on Wednesday.
An Israeli official said that the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the territory.
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The statement also asserted that Hamas was seeking 'unacceptable' changes to the proposal. US President Donald Trump has pushed for an agreement and will host Mr Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to discuss a deal. Inside Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed 14 Palestinians and another 10 were killed while seeking food aid, hospital officials in the embattled enclave said. And two US aid workers with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were injured in an attack at a food distribution site, which the organisation blamed on Hamas, without providing evidence. Weary Palestinians expressed cautious hope after Hamas gave a 'positive' response late Friday to the latest US proposal for a 60-day truce but said further talks were needed on implementation. 'We are tired. Enough starvation, enough closure of crossing points. 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Israeli airstrikes struck tents in the crowded Muwasi area on Gaza's Mediterranean coast, killing seven people including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Four others were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza. Three people were killed in three strikes in Khan Younis. Israel's army did not immediately comment. Separately, eight Palestinians were killed near a GHF aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital said. One Palestinian was killed near another GHF point in Rafah. It was not clear how far the Palestinians were from the sites. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. The organisation has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors and can be accessed only by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of metres away. The army had no immediate comment but has said it fires warning shots as a crowd-control measure and only aims at people when its troops are threatened. Another Palestinian was killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The United Nations and other international organisations have been bringing in their own supplies of aid since the war began. The incident did not appear to be connected to GHF operations. Much of Gaza's population of over two million now relies on international aid after the war has largely devastated agriculture and other food sources and left many people near famine. Crowds of Palestinians often wait for lorries and unload or loot their contents before they reach their destinations. The lorries must pass through areas under Israeli military control. Israel's military did not immediately comment. 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