Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected Hamas’s counterproposal for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement on Wednesday.
The Israeli leader called the offer “delusional” and said his country would not stop its war until it achieves an “absolute victory.”
“Surrendering to Hamas’s delusional demands that we heard now not only won’t lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre,” Netanyahu said in a nationally televised evening news conference. “We are on the way to an absolute victory.”
Hamas’s proposal was a three-stage plan that would last 4 1/2 months. Its plan stipulates that in exchange for the release of the roughly 130 hostages in Hamas’s custody, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including some whom they could choose, including senior terrorists.
Israeli leaders, Netanyahu included, have said their goal is the removal of Hamas from power, the demilitarization of the group, and the apprehension or killing of the group’s senior leaders.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu, among other Israeli and Palestinian leaders, on Wednesday and said there is still “a lot of work” to do to bridge the divide between Israel and Hamas.
The United States is hoping to secure an extended but not permanent ceasefire to allow for the release of the hostages in Gaza and a significant surge of humanitarian resources into the strip. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry claims more than 25,000 people have been killed throughout four months of war, though the number does not distinguish between civilians and militants.
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Hamas took more than 240 people hostage during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, which included the killing of roughly 1,200 people, and approximately 136 remain in Gaza four months later. Israeli military officials acknowledged on Tuesday that more than 30 hostages still in the Gaza Strip have already been killed, while another 20 could have been killed as well.
There are six Americans believed to be held in Gaza.
