Netanyahu has no excuse to avoid deal with Hamas, Blinken Yar Lapid
Last Updated on May 3, 2024 1:11 am
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “no political excuse” for avoiding a hostage deal with Hamas. He said this to the visiting US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday.
Turkish media Yeni Shafak reported that Lapid met the top US diplomat in Israel today. He says so there.
Lapid posted on his X account that he told Blinken, “Netanyahu has no political excuse not to reach an agreement to release the hostages.”
The US secretary of state visited Israel on Wednesday on the final leg of a Middle East tour as part of efforts to broker a cease-fire agreement between Tel Aviv and Hamas aimed at ending the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Yair Lapid said, “He (Netanyahu) has a majority nationally, he has a majority in the Knesset (Parliament), and if necessary, I will make sure he has a majority in the government as well” (meaning he has no excuse not to deal with Hamas).
According to the report, there are reports of talks between Hamas and Israel on a new ceasefire proposal to end the conflict in Gaza.
The new offer includes Israel’s interest in discussing the “restoration of lasting peace” in Gaza after the initial release of hostages on humanitarian grounds, two Israeli officials told the Axios news website.
Hamas is expected to respond to the ceasefire proposal later this week.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Netanyahu threatened to attack Rafah. But there are more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians. The entire world, including the United Nations and the United States, has been warning about the operation in Rafah.
Since a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7 last year, Israel has continued its offensive into the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip. About 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,000 are missing. In addition, more than 77 thousand were injured.
On the other hand, 1200 Israelis were killed in that cross-border attack by Hamas. At the same time, Hamas fighters brought about 250 hostages to Gaza. Some of them have been returned in two rounds.