Israel’s Netanyahu rejects Egyptian cease-fire initiative in Gaza

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an initiative proposed by Egypt on Sunday for a short-term cease-fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the proposal, according to Israeli media.

“We proposed a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip for two days to exchange four (Israeli) hostages for some (Palestinian) prisoners, and then negotiations would take place over 10 days to turn the cease-fire into a permanent truce,” al-Sisi said during a joint press conference with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the capital Cairo.

Despite the support of most Israeli ministers for the Egyptian proposal, Tel Aviv decided to reject the deal due to opposition from Netanyahu, who emphasized that "negotiations will take place only under fire," according to Israel’s Channel 12.

The channel confirmed that Israel's security establishment also supported the proposal.

Israel estimates that around 101 of its citizens are still being held captive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza amid concerns that some of them may have already been killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes across the densely populated area.

Efforts led by the US, Egypt and Qatar to secure a cease-fire and facilitate a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas have so far stalled, with Netanyahu refusing to consider ending the conflict.

The Israeli army has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala