Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the families of Israeli prisoners who also hold American citizenship that Tel Aviv would present a “revised proposal” for a ceasefire to Hamas within two days. This announcement was made during their meeting on the sidelines of his visit to Washington, as revealed by the American website “Axios” on Thursday, July 25, 2024.
Meanwhile, a Western official, a Palestinian source, and two Egyptian sources told Reuters that Israel is seeking to make amendments to a plan for a truce in Gaza and an exchange deal, complicating the efforts to reach an agreement that would end the nine-month-long fighting that has devastated the region.
The four sources mentioned that Israel insists on screening displaced Palestinians returning to the northern part of Gaza once the ceasefire begins, deviating from an agreement that would allow civilians who fled to the south to return home freely.
The Western official stated that Israeli negotiators “want a screening mechanism for the civilian population returning to northern Gaza.”
The Palestinian source and the two Egyptian sources said that Hamas rejected the new Israeli demand.
The Egyptian sources added that another point of contention is Israel’s demand to maintain control over Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Cairo rejects as it exceeds any framework for a final agreement acceptable to the parties involved.
Meeting with Families of Prisoners
On Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting in Washington with the families of prisoners held in Gaza, who hold American citizenship, following his hour-and-a-half meeting with President Biden at the White House.
In this context, the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation indicated earlier on Thursday that “the meeting between Biden and Netanyahu is expected to lead to progress in the stalled prisoner exchange talks between Israel and Hamas.”
The corporation noted that Netanyahu wants to “secure a commitment from Biden regarding the continuation of the fight in Gaza and the provision of special weapons to Israel to prevent the possible collapse of his government” due to the potential resignation of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The private Israeli newspaper “Maariv” claimed that the White House is exerting “significant pressure” on Netanyahu during his current visit to agree to the terms of the ceasefire in Gaza.
On Monday, Netanyahu arrived in the United States and delivered a speech before Congress on Wednesday, which was boycotted by nearly half of the Democratic members in both the House and Senate, in protest against the ongoing war and Israeli crimes in Gaza.
On Friday, Netanyahu is set to meet with Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump in Florida before returning to Israel next Saturday evening.
Since October 7 of last year, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, resulting in over 129,000 Palestinian casualties, most of whom are children and women, and more than 10,000 missing persons.
Tel Aviv continues its war, ignoring the UN Security Council’s resolution to halt it immediately and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
