Israeli president ready to back Netanyahu on Biden's Gaza proposal

By Mohamed Hamed

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced his support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, contingent on Netanyahu's agreement to US President Joe Biden's proposal for a deal between Israel and Hamas aiming to bring an end to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

“I told Prime Minister that I will give him and the government my full support for a deal which will see the release of the hostages,” wrote Herzog on X.

“We must not forget that according to Jewish tradition, there is no greater commandment than redeeming captives and hostages - especially when it comes to Israeli citizens who the State of Israel was not able to defend and protect,” he added.

Herzog stressed that “it is our inherent obligation to bring them home within the framework of a deal that preserves the security interests of the State of Israel.”

US President Joe Biden said 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 the members of his governing coalition opposed to the plan.

Netanyahu's office reiterated Friday his intention to continue the country's offensive in Gaza 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."

Since last Oct. 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

Over 36,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its onslaught nearly eight months ago. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with more than 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

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, whose latest ruling 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