Israel's defense chief urges Netanyahu to accept Egyptian proposal for deal with Hamas

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) — Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to approve an Egyptian proposal for a hostage swap and cease-fire in Gaza, according to local media.

Public broadcaster KAN reported, Gallant said during a meeting of the country's Security Cabinet that the potential deal with Palestinian group Hamas would be favorable must be approved as "an opportunity to bring back the hostages held in Gaza."

According to the channel, Gallant personally urged Netanyahu to approve the deal.

During the meeting, the defense chief reportedly said: "We must bring back the hostages. I am not speaking about it publicly to avoid increasing the cost of the deal, but it must be approved."

Gallant’s was backed by other Cabinet members, though Netanyahu expressed reservations, the channel reported, without further clarification.

Earlier in the day, Gallant said a planned ground attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was “imminent.”

“We are observing worrying signs that Hamas does not intend to reach an agreement with us,” Gallant told army troops in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor.

“This means the operation in Rafah is imminent.”

Despite growing international opposition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah, home to more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, to defeat what he calls the “remaining Hamas battalions.”

Rafah is the last remaining area in the Gaza Strip where Israel has not yet formally announced the entry of its troops to continue the onslaught against Palestinians.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, held talks in Egypt on Saturday for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap with Israel.

Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News channel, citing a high-level Egyptian source, reported “positive progress” on Sunday in talks for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza in return for any hostage deal with Tel Aviv.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack led by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala