Tel Aviv – Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that he is willing to negotiate a permanent fire in Gaza during a 60 -day truce, but only if the Palestinian territory is demilitated.
Delegations of Israel and Hamas initiated indirect conversations in Doha on Sunday to try to agree on a high temporal fire in the war in Gaza, triggered by the attack of the Palestinian Islamist group in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United States Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, proposed a high fire of 60 days in exchange for the release of half of the 20 live hostages that still remain in Gaza, said Netanyahu.
“At the beginning of this high fire, we will establish negotiations to put an end to the war permanently,” said Israeli prime minister in a video message from Washington on Thursday.
Depose weapons
Netanyahu said that the “fundamental conditions” of Israel are that “Hamas depose the weapons” and stop having “government or military capacity.”
“If this can be achieved through negotiations, excellent. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will achieve it by other means, using the strength, strength of our heroic army,” he said.
The October 7 attack left 1,219 dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to a recount based on official Israeli data.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 57,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the military campaign that Israel launched in retaliation, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the controlled by the Hamas terrorist group.
