After Meeting With Blinken, Netanyahu Backs US Gaza Proposal That Includes His Demands

Hamas said the proposal doesn't include a permanent ceasefire and allows Israel to maintain control of the Gaza-Egypt border

After meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement backing the new Gaza hostage and ceasefire proposal from the US, which includes the Israeli leader’s demands and doesn’t include a permanent truce.

“The Prime Minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs, which he strongly insists on,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

According to The Times of Israel, the statement was the first time Netanyahu publicly backed the US proposal even though it included his demands. Hamas rejected the proposal a day earlier due to the added conditions. Israeli officials later told Axios that Netanyahu only said he accepted the US proposal because he knew Hamas wouldn’t accept it.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Hamas said the US proposal lacked a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The group also said that the US proposal would ensure Israel maintains control of the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and the Netzarim Corridor, a piece of land that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip.

Netanyahu began demanding these conditions during previous negotiations after Hamas agreed to the language in the ceasefire proposal unveiled by President Biden back in May. Israeli officials and media outlets have acknowledged that by inserting the new demands, Netanyahu was trying to sabotage the chances of a deal with Hamas.

Hamas has said it wants to implement the Biden ceasefire proposal, but Netanyahu has vowed he’s not backing down on his new demands. Blinken called for both sides to agree to a deal, but there’s no sign the US is willing to use its significant leverage over Israel to get Netanyahu to make concessions.

“It’s time for it to get done. It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. So we’re looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity,” Blinken said after meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The US has not condemned the Israeli assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, which derailed previous ceasefire negotiations. Instead, the US has vowed to defend Israel from any Iranian reprisal attack that may come in response and has deployed additional military assets to the region for that purpose.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.