NEW DELHI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is still committed to the ceasefire and hostage release plan as the families released a new video on Monday showing the condition of three Israeli hostages, who were shoved, bloodied, and terrified.
“We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed.The second thing, which does not contradict the first, we will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
His statement came after facing an angry backlash from Israeli politicians and a group representing Israel’s hostages and their families who felt that the PM will make a partial deal with Hamas to return only some hostages from Gaza.
On a local channel, Netanyahu expressed his willingness to strike “a partial deal” with Hamas, which would only involve the repatriation of a few hostages from Gaza. This stance contradicts the proposal that had been endorsed by his own war cabinet, according to CNN.
US President Joe Biden presented a plan last month that delineates prerequisites aimed at securing the freedom of all remaining captives in exchange for a lasting truce and the pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The families, together with the hostages and missing families forum released a video on Monday where all three hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eliya Cohen, 26, and Or Levy, 33, who were abducted on October 7, were being driven along a tree-lined road in southern Israel by militants wielding assault weapons.
The families of the young men, desperate for PM Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal with Islamist group Hamas, approved its publication in the media.
Levy, Cohen, and Goldberg-Polin were among the attendees of the Nova music festival in southern Israel when the Hamas-led assault occurred. Tragically, Levy’s wife was killed during the attack, while Cohen’s girlfriend survived despite being buried under a pile of bodies.
In the video, Goldberg-Polin, having lost part of his left arm earlier, sits in the back of the pickup truck, covered in blood. The footage alternates between the wounded hostages and their cheering captors as the truck speeds along a narrow road under a clear blue sky.
The attack on October 7 triggered the war in Gaza, which has been ongoing for nearly nine months. Attempts to establish a ceasefire and secure the release of approximately 120 hostages still in captivity have been unsuccessful.
Jon Polin, Goldberg-Polin’s father, stated that they first viewed this latest video of his abduction a week ago, and its release was intended to remind the world about the captives whose lives hang in the balance. He expressed the desire to urge world leaders to take action and secure the release of the hostages.
Netanyahu responded to the video, acknowledging the heartbreak it causes and emphasizing the cruelty of the enemy they have vowed to defeat. He pledged not to end the war until all 120 loved ones are brought home safely.
After Israeli’s PM statement, Israel’s military also issued a statement from a situational assessment by its chief of staff in the area of Rafah, where Israeli forces have been fighting Hamas’ remaining battalions.
“We are clearly approaching the point where we can say we have dismantled the Rafah Brigade, that it is defeated not in the sense that there are no more terrorists, but in the sense that it can no longer function as a fighting unit,” said Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi.
Hamas’s deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, said: “We are a people on its land and a resistance (group) defending its land. If the occupation (Israel) announces it is achieving its goals, let it do so and let it say what it wants and the field can validate and falsify.”
He added: “If Israel wants to convince itself that it is done, it should exit the strip,” in response to a question about the Israeli army’s remarks on dismantling Hamas during an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV on Monday.
(With inputs from agency)
“We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed.The second thing, which does not contradict the first, we will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
His statement came after facing an angry backlash from Israeli politicians and a group representing Israel’s hostages and their families who felt that the PM will make a partial deal with Hamas to return only some hostages from Gaza.
On a local channel, Netanyahu expressed his willingness to strike “a partial deal” with Hamas, which would only involve the repatriation of a few hostages from Gaza. This stance contradicts the proposal that had been endorsed by his own war cabinet, according to CNN.
US President Joe Biden presented a plan last month that delineates prerequisites aimed at securing the freedom of all remaining captives in exchange for a lasting truce and the pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The families, together with the hostages and missing families forum released a video on Monday where all three hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eliya Cohen, 26, and Or Levy, 33, who were abducted on October 7, were being driven along a tree-lined road in southern Israel by militants wielding assault weapons.
The families of the young men, desperate for PM Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal with Islamist group Hamas, approved its publication in the media.
Levy, Cohen, and Goldberg-Polin were among the attendees of the Nova music festival in southern Israel when the Hamas-led assault occurred. Tragically, Levy’s wife was killed during the attack, while Cohen’s girlfriend survived despite being buried under a pile of bodies.
In the video, Goldberg-Polin, having lost part of his left arm earlier, sits in the back of the pickup truck, covered in blood. The footage alternates between the wounded hostages and their cheering captors as the truck speeds along a narrow road under a clear blue sky.
The attack on October 7 triggered the war in Gaza, which has been ongoing for nearly nine months. Attempts to establish a ceasefire and secure the release of approximately 120 hostages still in captivity have been unsuccessful.
Jon Polin, Goldberg-Polin’s father, stated that they first viewed this latest video of his abduction a week ago, and its release was intended to remind the world about the captives whose lives hang in the balance. He expressed the desire to urge world leaders to take action and secure the release of the hostages.
Netanyahu responded to the video, acknowledging the heartbreak it causes and emphasizing the cruelty of the enemy they have vowed to defeat. He pledged not to end the war until all 120 loved ones are brought home safely.
After Israeli’s PM statement, Israel’s military also issued a statement from a situational assessment by its chief of staff in the area of Rafah, where Israeli forces have been fighting Hamas’ remaining battalions.
“We are clearly approaching the point where we can say we have dismantled the Rafah Brigade, that it is defeated not in the sense that there are no more terrorists, but in the sense that it can no longer function as a fighting unit,” said Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi.
Hamas’s deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, said: “We are a people on its land and a resistance (group) defending its land. If the occupation (Israel) announces it is achieving its goals, let it do so and let it say what it wants and the field can validate and falsify.”
He added: “If Israel wants to convince itself that it is done, it should exit the strip,” in response to a question about the Israeli army’s remarks on dismantling Hamas during an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV on Monday.
(With inputs from agency)
