Israel ramps up pressure on Hamas amid deadly Eid blasts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to ramp up pressure on Hamas, while sustaining efforts for hostages to be freed.
It comes as an Israeli air assault on a home for displaced people in southern Gaza, left 10 people dead, including children, as Palestinians marked the first day of Eid-al-Fitr, according to CNN on March 30th.
Dismissing accusations that Israel was not willing to negotiate, Netanyahu said that there were “cracks” showing in the plans of Hamas following the restart of the offensive.
The air assault comes amid Hamas accepting a new Egyptian proposal for a renewed ceasefire on the terms of Hamas freeing five hostages including American-Israeli Edan Alexander, a Hamas source said to CNN.
Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to ramp up the military campaign, stating that the pressure placed on Hamas was having an effect.
“It works because it operates simultaneously: on one hand, it crushes Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities and, on the other, it creates the conditions for the release of our hostages. This is exactly what we are doing,” Netanyahu said at a meeting.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are marking Eid this year as they face diminishing aid supplies and a rising death toll in the territory.
“Every year, I’m used to baking Eid cookies for my children,” one displaced woman, Ameneh Shaqla, said to CNN. “But because of the current situation and how expensive everything has become, I was only able to prepare one kilogram — just to bring them some joy so they don’t stay sad because of the war.”
Since Israel restarted its assault on Gaza which broke a two-month-old ceasefire agreement, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the territory.
Al-Mawasi, a coastal region west of the city of Rafah that was marked by Israel as a “humanitarian area” has continued to face Israeli attacks. In a trade for the return of five hostages, Hamas anticipates the resumption of phase one ceasefire conditions, along with the return of humanitarian aid into Gaza. It also expects an arrangement with Israel to mediate another phase of the ceasefire.
A statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said it had come up with a counter-proposal to the Egyptian offer for a ceasefire.
The office said: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a series of consultations yesterday, following a proposal received from the mediators. In recent hours, Israel transferred its counter-proposal to the mediators, in full coordination with the United States.”
CNN
