Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hardened his rejection of Hamas demands for an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, saying on Sunday that would keep the Palestinian Islamist group in power and pose a threat to Israel.
\nNetanyahu said Israel was willing to pause fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130.
\n\u201cBut while Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power,\u201d Netanyahu said.
\n\u201cIsrael cannot accept that.\u201d
\n\u201cHamas would be able to achieve its promise of carrying out again and again and again its massacres, rapes and kidnapping.\u201d
\nIn Cairo, Hamas leaders held a second day of truce talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with no apparent progress reported as the group maintained its demand that any agreement must end the war in Gaza, Palestinian officials said.
\nThe war began after an assault by Hamas on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.
\nIsrael\u2019s ensuring military offensive has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza. The bombardment has devastated much of the coastal enclave and caused a humanitarian crisis.
\n(Reuters)hostages. Gaza war, Hamas demands, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas demands to end the Gaza war in exchange for freeing hostages, stating that it would keep Hamas in power and pose a threat to Israel. Israel is willing to pause fighting to secure the release of over 130 hostages held by Hamas. Netanyahu expressed concern that if Hamas remained in power, they would continue carrying out massacres, rapes, and kidnappings. Hamas leaders in Cairo maintained their demand for an agreement to end the war in Gaza. The war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in casualties and hostages. Israel’s military offensive has led to the deaths of over 34,600 Palestinians and caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3038,1943,4538,1024,3722,5255,3502,4893,145,895,4171,298,8968,210,2581,1025,1235,964,299,1522,3940,3504,493,345,4796,462,1004,1792,8969,3840,1354,7374,1026,1846,114,939,4381,293,6024,3770,18],"class_list":["post-10746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-agreement","tag-assault","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-cairo","tag-casualties","tag-crisis","tag-deaths","tag-demand","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-strip","tag-gaza-war","tag-hamas","tag-hamas-demands","tag-health","tag-health-ministry","tag-hostages","tag-humanitarian","tag-humanitarian-crisis","tag-israel","tag-kidnapping","tag-leaders","tag-military","tag-netanyahu","tag-palestine","tag-palestinian-islamist-group","tag-palestinians","tag-power","tag-prime-minister","tag-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-progress","tag-release","tag-release-of-hostages","tag-talks","tag-threat","tag-top-news","tag-truce","tag-truce-talks","tag-war","tag-war-in-gaza","tag-willingness","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n