By Tia Goldenberg | The Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pushed back against a new wave of pressure to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza after hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested and went on strike and US President Joe Biden said he...
TEL AVIV, Israel—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pushed back against a new wave of pressure to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza after hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested and went on strike and US President Joe Biden said he needed to do more after nearly 11 months of fighting.
Israelis had poured into the streets late Sunday in grief and anger in what appeared to be the largest protest since the start of the war. The families and much of the public blamed Netanyahu, saying the hostages could have been returned alive in a deal with Hamas. A rare general strike was held across the country on Monday.
Netanyahu has pledged “total victory” over Hamas and blames it for the failure of the negotiations. On Monday, he said he is ready to carry out the first phase of the cease-fire—a plan that would include the release of some hostages, a partial pullout of Israeli troops and the release of some prisoners held by Israel. But he rejected a full withdrawal from Gaza, saying he saw no other party that could control Gaza’s borders.
Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas official leading the negotiations, told the Qatari network Al Jazeera late Sunday that Netanyahu had deemed keeping the Philadelphi corridor “more important” than winning the hostages’ release. Three of the slain hostages were reportedly among those who would have been released in the first phase of the cease-fire proposal outlined by Biden in July.
“There’s no need to punish the whole state of Israel because of what is happening, overall, it is a victory for Hamas,” said one passenger, Amrani Yigal.
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