By Niamh Harris – The People’s Voice
Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a Hamas-proposed plan to end the conflict in Gaza.
In a press conference on Wednesday The israeli Prime Minister vowed to continue Israel’smilitary offensive in Gaza until “total victory” was secured.
He told reporters that “there is no other solution besides absolute victory” over the Palestinian militants, adding that fully eliminating them was “a process that takes time.”
RT reports: The Hamas-authored document proposes a three-stage, 135-day ceasefire during which Israeli hostages would be swapped for Palestinian prisoners, reconstruction work would begin in Gaza, and talks aimed at a permanent truce would be held while Israeli troops withdraw from the strip.
The text of the plan was leaked to Reuters on Tuesday, and rejected by Netanyahu a day later.
“Surrender to Hamas’s delusional demands, that we’ve just heard, not only would not bring about the freedom of the hostages, it would only invite an additional slaughter; it would invite disaster for Israel that no Israeli citizens want,” Netanyahu said at a press conference.
Crucially, Hamas’ proposal would leave the militant group in place as Gaza’s governing authority, while an earlier proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian negotiators made no mention of who would govern the enclave after the conflict.
Netanyahu insisted that “the day after” in Gaza “is the day after Hamas.” The Israeli premier said that Israel would “ensure that Gaza is demilitarized forever,” and “will act in Gaza wherever and whenever it needs to, to ensure that terror does not again raise its head.”
“We are on the way to total victory,” Netanyahu claimed, adding that “victory is achievable; it’s not a matter of years or decades, it’s a matter of months.”
Netanyahu’s insistence on “total victory” has strained relations between West Jerusalem and Washington, as has his rejection of a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict with the Palestinians.