Israel confirms more hostages have died as doubts grow over Gaza ceasefire plan

Jerusalem:

Israel on Monday announced the deaths of four hostages held in Gaza amid growing doubts and international pressure over a plan for a ceasefire and hostage release deal outlined by US President Joe Biden.

Biden on Friday presented Israel with a three-step plan that would end the bloody conflict, free all hostages and rebuild the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas regaining power.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office insisted that the war triggered by the October 7 attack would continue until all of Israel’s “goals” were achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’ military and governance capabilities.

And on Monday, the White House said Biden told mediator Qatar’s emir that he sees Hamas as “the only obstacle to a full ceasefire” in Gaza, and urged him to pressure the group to accept it.

The G-7 group of developed nations said in a statement that its leaders “fully support” the deal presented by Biden, and called on Hamas to accept it.

The Israeli military announced on 7 October the deaths of four hostages taken in Gaza, identified as Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he was “deeply saddened to hear of the death” of Israeli-Briton Popplewell, adding: “We reiterate our call on Hamas to repatriate all hostages.”

All except Popplewell were seen alive in a video released by Hamas in December.

Separately, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Our assessment is that all four of them were killed together in the Khan Younis area during our operation against Hamas.”

Earlier on Monday, the military said it had found the body of paramedic Dolev Yehud in Israel, who was believed to be a hostage but was killed on October 7.

Israeli media have raised questions about the extent to which Biden’s ceasefire speech and some key details, including how long any ceasefire would last and how many detainees would be released and when, were coordinated with Netanyahu’s team.

Hamas said on Friday it viewed Biden’s outline “positively” but has since made no official comment on the stalled talks, while mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have not announced any new negotiations.

– ‘The end of suffering’ –

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt issued a statement on Monday supporting the latest diplomatic effort.

The joint statement said they “emphasized the importance of considering seriously and positively the US President’s proposal”, which “could lead to a lasting ceasefire… and put an end to the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip.”

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer quoted Netanyahu as saying that the outline presented by Biden is only “partial”, and that fighting under the plan would only stop temporarily “for the purpose of returning the hostages”.

However, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that the White House had “seen over the weekend a renewed willingness on the part of Israel to move forward and compromise.”

And State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the proposal was “virtually identical” to one presented by Hamas several weeks earlier and urged Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “not to change his goals.”

The fighting shows no sign of abating, and the war that has devastated a coastal region of 2.4 million people is soon to enter its ninth month.

On Monday, the Israeli military said its forces had attacked “more than 50 targets” the previous day, and Gaza hospitals reported at least 19 people killed in the overnight attacks.

– Heavy fighting –

The war, which began with a Hamas attack on October 7, has resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also took 251 hostages, 120 of whom remain in Gaza, 41 of whom the military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory bombing and ground offensive have killed at least 36,470 people, mostly civilians, in Gaza, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

According to the United Nations satellite analysis agency, about 55 percent of structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or “possibly damaged” since the war began.

Heavy fighting continues, particularly in Gaza’s far southern Rafah region near the Egyptian border, where UN agencies say most civilians are once again displaced.

The Israeli military said troops were carrying out “targeted operations in the Rafah area”, and witnesses reported air strikes and shelling.

Gaza’s European Hospital said 10 people were killed in an air strike on a house near the southern town of Khan Younis, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital said six people were killed in a strike on a house in the central Bureij refugee camp.

The United Nations and other aid agencies have been warning for months about the risk of famine amid a growing humanitarian crisis in the besieged region.

– Political pressure –

Netanyahu, a hawkish leader heading a weak, hard-right coalition government, is facing intense domestic pressure from many sides.

Relatives and supporters of the hostages have staged massive protests demanding a ceasefire deal – but his right-wing coalition partners are threatening to topple the government if he agrees to it.

In a video message on Monday, Netanyahu insisted that Israel would accomplish “both tasks” in its war: the “destruction of Hamas” and the return of the prisoners.

According to Biden, Israel’s three-step offer would begin with a six-week phase in which Israeli forces would withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza and an initial hostage-prisoner swap.

Biden said the two sides would then negotiate a permanent ceasefire and that the ceasefire would remain in place as long as the talks continued.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)