Netanyahu Rejects Ceasefire Proposal

The ceasefire framework, negotiated by Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar last month with remote inputs from Hamas, was to last a minimum of six weeks and ideally more. Its three phases offered an end to the fighting, a substantial increase in humanitarian aid access within Gaza, release of all civilian hostages currently held by Hamas in Gaza, and the exchange of three Palestinian prisoners held by Israel for every single Israeli Hamas was holding.

It would have been only the second ceasefire since the current war began on October 7.

As of yesterday, after Hamas sent its response to the negotiators, the atmosphere from comments made about the deal the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt was cautiously optimistic that the deal might just go through in some modified form. And even if quietly both Hamas and Israel were likely to disagree strongly on certain positions each side were to insist on, it was also hoped the two nations would hold the most severe of the disagreements quiet as the negotiators worked with them to adjust the provision of the still just temporary peace deal.

That optimism and those hopes were shredded after psychopath Netanyahu came forward to denounce what he referred to as Hamas’ demands and angrily rejected even the prospect of negotiating the counteroffer.

What Hamas Proposed

According to multiple sources who have seen both the original framework and Hamas’ comments on it, Hamas proposed altering the time frame for the proposal to consist of three 45-day stages. Its full proposal was delivered to the negotiators and Israel late on February 6.

In its adjusted version of Phase 1, it would release all female Israeli prisoners taken captive during the October 7 attack, all male prisoners who are not part of Israeli’s military and younger than 19 years old, along with all elderly and ill captives. Hamas is asking in return for Israel to release 1,500 Palestinians it is holding, with priority to include all women, children, elderly and sick currently imprisoned. Some 500 of the prisoners to be released would come from those Israel is holding who are currently serving extended sentences up to life terms.

Hamas has also asked in this phase for the establishment of temporary shelter in the form of 200,000 tents and 60,000 homes. It is also asking for a minimum of 500 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza during this 45-day period. Both requests are consistent with directives provided at the International Court of Justice trial regarding Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. So despite that the requests may seem aggressive, they would move along the mandates the ICJ had given to Israel.

Hamas also wants all Palestinians in Gaza to be allowed freedom of movement as this phase begins, as well as to have the borders with Gaza opened.

During Phase 2 under Hamas’ proposed changes to the framework, Hamas agrees to release all remaining Israeli prisoners.

In return for this it is asking that Israel’s military forces must completely withdraw from Gaza during this 45-day period.

The counter to the original framework also calls for replacement or repair to begin of some of the most critical of infrastructure which IDF forces have destroyed since this war began. That would include water and sewage systems, power distribution, and communications networks.

The increased rate of delivery of humanitarian aid into Israel would continue during this phase.

In its altered Phase 3, Hamas is asking to add to the plan the release of all remaining prisoners on both sides, as well as all physical remains of any dead held by either Hamas or Israel.

While considered by many a surprise, Hamas’ position about the removal of Israeli’s military was in line with previous statements not just from them but others such as Saudi Arabia and even U.S. representatives for what it would take to establish a genuine two-state solution with Palestine and Israel. The release of all Israeli prisoners offered in the proposal was also considered a strong positive for Netanyahu politically, as the Israeli public has been protesting more loudly over frustrations that Netanyahu seems to be openly rejecting any plan which would have brought home far more of those held by Hamas.

All of Hamas’ suggested changes to the plan were put forward with the understanding that this ceasefire period was to be all about the beginning of the end of the current slaughter and mass destruction in Gaza and that it would be an actual ceasefire, not just a decrease in atrocities like the last failed ceasefire in which Israel continued to abduct and kill Palestinians and block aid. 

How Israel Responded

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, President Isaac Herzog, IDF Head Herzl Halevy yesterday in Israel to discuss the counterproposal and next steps forward. Regardless of what Blinken’s assigned objectives might have been toward keeping the dialog open, it failed miserably.

Netanyahu and his extended Cabinet also gathered for some time yesterday to discuss what Israel should do and say about the plan and Hamas’ counters to the original draft. That notably included Israel’s Minister of National Security Ibrahim Ben-Gvir, a radical Zionist who heads up the Otzama Yehudit (Jewish Power) party which is so critical to Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, and who continues to demand the complete obliteration or pushing out of all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as a long-term objective. Ben-Gvir also openly rejects any two-state solution for Palestine if it involves yielding a single square meter of stolen Palestinian land, occupied or not, to achieve that.

At the end of all that, the Israeli prime minister called a press conference in which he called Hamas’ counterproposal “delusional”, but it was he who clearly expressed delusions.

In an opening statement, Netanyahu laid out that his country will accept no preconditions from anyone limiting its “total victory over Hamas”.

“Without total victory Iran and its terror proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and others—will be emboldened to subvert moderate states in the Middle East,” he insanely uttered. "They’ll threaten the entire free world.”

In the “months” he said are left before that “total victory” will be achieved, he declared a key focus for Israel will be not negotiating with Hamas but obliterating it completely.

“When people talk about ‘the day after’, let’s be clear about one thing. It’s the day after all of Hamas is destroyed,” Netanyahu explained. “Not half of Hamas, not three-quarters of Hamas; all of Hamas.”

As part of that “total victory”, Netanyahu spoke with open hostility towards any suggestion that Israel would consider withdrawing its forces from Gaza, apparently forever.

“Once Hamas is destroyed, we need to verify that Gaza is demilitarized, that we stamp out any attempt at the resurgence of terror,” he went on. “History has shown that only Israel can do this by having overriding security control over Gaza. It means that Israel will be in Gaza or act in Gaza at any place and any time that is necessary to ensure that terror doesn’t rears its ugly head again.”

Netanyahu also used the speech to add a new demand of his own. That is to dismantle in its entirety the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). That is the primary agency providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank. It is also the agency that Israel has already successfully undermined by providing fraudulent dossiers claiming as much as 10% of that agency are operating in direct support of Hamas and even the October 7 attack by that group. Ten nations have already postponed all future aid to the UNRWA to please their mad Zionist masters. 

“UNRWA, which perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem, whose schools indoctrinate Palestinian children with genocide and terror, and from whose ranks sprang a dozen terrorist murderers who participated in the October 7th massacre, this UNRWA must be replaced by responsible aid agencies,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu’s comments also included a nod to his Israel Defense Forces moving southwards into Gaza for a continuation of the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Rafah. This is where he and the IDF had previously directed Palestinians fleeing the carnage in northern and central Gaza to go as a place of refuge.

His statement on this made it clear that this too was just a ruse.

“Our soldiers are now in Khan Yunis, Hamas’s main stronghold,” he said. “They’ll soon go into Rafah, Hamas’s last bastion.”

Netanyahu added statements claiming the IDF will do their best to provide “the civilian population safe passage to safe zones” despite that Rafah was until now the only safe place left in the country. The IDF actually allows no real safe zones and kills Palestinians everywhere. 

In a statement immediately following Netanyahu’s speech, UN Secretary-General António Guterres attacked Israel’s plans to move the war into Rafah “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences”.

The idiot Blinken reacted to all this after Netanyahu’s address with the seemingly inexplicable statement that, “while there are some clear non-starters to Hamas' response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there." 

With that, the proposed ceasefire plan now appears dead, with fascist Israel's continued march towards its ultimate objective of the full genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and likely igniting a much broader war that could spiral into WW III. 

As of the end of the day on February 7, the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Palestinian Red Crescent Society estimate Israel has murdered at least 27,585 Palestinians in Gaza. That number includes over 10,000 children. At least 66,978 are injured and over 10,000 people are missing, most of which are presumed dead. An additional some 600 have been killed in the West Bank. Thousands more are being tortured in Israeli prisons.