Israeli government cannot ignore new US cease-fire proposal, says opposition leader

ISTANBUL

Israel’s opposition leader on Saturday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to heed US President Joe Biden's new proposal to end hostilities and free the hostages.

“The Israeli government cannot ignore President Biden's significant (Friday) speech" laying out the proposal, Yair Lapid wrote on X.

“There is a deal on the table and it needs to be taken,” he said.

"Remind Netanyahu that he has a safety net from us for a hostage deal if (Itamar) Ben-Gvir and (Bezalel) Smotrich leave the government,” added the opposition leader, referring to the government’s hard-line national security minister and finance minister, respectively.

Biden said on Friday that Israel presented the Palestinian resistance group Hamas with a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in the besieged Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave.

Biden appealed to Hamas to accept the deal and urged Netanyahu to resist pressure from members of his governing coalition opposed to the plan.

Netanyahu's office on Friday reiterated his intention to continue the country's offensive in the Gaza Strip until all of Tel Aviv's war goals are achieved.

Hamas said it would "respond positively to any proposal that includes a permanent cease-fire, a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction efforts, the return of the displaced, and the completion of a comprehensive hostage exchange deal."

Over 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its onslaught nearly eight months ago. Most of those killed have been women and children, with more than 82,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack killed some 1,200 people.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi