Israel’s Netanyahu unwilling to pay 'political price' to end Gaza war: Opposition leader

By Khaled Yousef and Ahmed Asmar

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday of seeking to avoid paying a “political price” to end the war on the Gaza Strip.

"There is a political price to end the war, and Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to pay it," Lapid told local radio 103 FM.

"The Israeli government does not want to do anything, nor is it working with all its strength or capabilities" to recover the captives held in Gaza, he added.

Israel estimates that 59 captives are still held in Gaza with at least 20 of them alive. They are expected to be set free in the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, which would require Israel to fully withdraw its forces from Gaza and end the war permanently.

Netanyahu has refused to enter negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Instead, he wants to extend the first phase of the deal, which ended early March.

The Israeli government halted electricity supply and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza to pressure the Palestinian group Hamas to accept its conditions.

Hamas, however, has refused to proceed under these conditions, insisting that Israel abides by the terms of the ceasefire and immediately starts negotiations for the second phase, which includes a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a complete halt to the war.

The ceasefire agreement has halted Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,500 victims, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.