Two far-right Israeli ministers have threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza ceasefire proposal unveiled by US President Joe Biden on Friday.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they were opposed to striking any deal before Hamas was destroyed.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has pledged to back the government if Mr Netanyahu supported the plan.
The prime minister himself insisted there would be no permanent truce until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed and all hostages released.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Mr Biden’s three-part proposal would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza.
He said the prime minister “has our safety net for a hostage deal if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich leave the government”.Before the intervention of Mr Netanyahu’s government partners, a senior foreign policy adviser said many details of the plan needed to be worked out and there would be no permanent ceasefire “until all our objectives are met”.But, in an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, Ophir Falk also said Mr Biden’s plan was a “deal we agreed to - it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them”.The row came as tens of thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv, calling on the Israeli government to accept Mr Biden’s proposed plan.
Many demonstrators also demanded Mr Netanyahu’s resignation and some told reporters they feared the prime minister could torpedo the proposal.A group campaigning to bring home Israeli hostages captured by Hamas has warned that such a move would endanger the lives of those held in Gaza.Scuffles broke out between protesters and police, who used mounted officers and water cannon to disperse the crowds.
In a joint statement on Saturday, mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US urged both Israel and Hamas to “finalise” Mr Biden’s proposed deal.Officials said that “as mediators in the ongoing discussions to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and detainees”, they “call on both Hamas and Israel to finalise the agreement embodying the principles outlined by President Joe Biden”.UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also offered his backing to the plan, telling reporters that his government could “flood Gaza with far more aid” if Hamas accepts the ceasefire plan.
Mr Netanyahu’s office did not mention “total victory” - which he has repeatedly highlighted as a key aim for the war in Gaza.This omission may allow the prime minister to reject criticism that the deal offers major concessions to Hamas.On Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on social media that he would give Mr Netanyahu’s government his “full support for a deal which will see the release of the hostages”.
Elsewhere, fighting continued in Rafah on Saturday, with reports of Israeli air strikes on Gaza’s southern city on Egypt’s border.
The original article contains 940 words, the summary contains 385 words. Saved 59%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!