Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again rejected on Wednesday any ceasefire in the Gaza Strip without the release of hostages held by Hamas, against the backdrop of information about mediation undertaken by Qatar for a humanitarian truce.
Netanyahu said during his meeting with representatives of settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to a statement from his office, “I want to deny any kind of rumors that reach us from all sides, to clearly repeat one thing… There will be no ceasefire without the release of our hostages… Everything else is useless”.
The Israeli government considered on Wednesday that it was too early to talk about scenarios about the future of the Gaza Strip, which must be demilitarized, but indicated that it was consulting with other countries regarding this situation.
Government spokesman Elon Levy said, “It’s too early to talk about scenarios for the ‘post-Hamas’ stage”.
He added, “I hope that the ‘post-Hamas’ phase will be next week, but it will likely take longer”.
He explained, “We’re examining several possibilities with our international partners, stressing that there is a common factor that is for the Gaza Strip to be demilitarized so that it doesn’t, at any time, become a den of terrorism again”.
Earlier, Benny Gantz, spoke about an alternative mechanism for Gaza after the end of the current war, which according to his words, “Hamas won’t be part of it”.
Israel confirms that its forces are now in the heart of Gaza City, where the battles have become fiercer in recent days, a month after the start of a bloody war that began following an unprecedented attack by the Hamas movement inside Israeli territory on October 7.
