‘We are working to stop negotiations with Hamas’ – Ben-Gvir demands end to ceasefire talks

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

Ben-Gvir threatened to overthrow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if a ceasefire agreement with Hamas was reached.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for an end to Tel Aviv’s participation in ceasefire negotiations with the Palestinian resistance, as well as a halt to electricity and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.

“We are working to stop negotiations with Hamas, Ben-Gvir he said on Wednesday in October. “A country that murders six hostages in cold blood does not negotiate with the murderers, but interrupts the negotiations, stops supplying them with fuel and electricity, and crushes them until they surrender.”

פועל כדי להפסיק המו”מ עם החמאס. מדינה שרוצחים לה שישה חטופים בדם קר לא מנהלת משא ומתן עם הרוצחים אלא עוצרת את המשא ומתן, מפסיקה להעביר להם דלק וחשמל, וכותשת אותם עד הכרעתם. המשך המו”מ רק מדרבן אותם לייצר עוד ועוד טרור גם מיהודה ושומרון. photo:twitter.com/L0T1E8No9T

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 4, 2024

He said continuing negotiations “only encourages them to create more and more terror,” adding “also in Judea and Samaria,” referring to the occupied West Bank.

Ben-Gvir threatened to overthrow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if a ceasefire agreement with Hamas was reached.

Status of prisoners

Last week, the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six Israeli prisoners found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas said in a statement that the detainees were killed in ongoing Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip.

Three prisoners whose bodies were supposed to be recovered under a July 2 ceasefire agreement were killed in a terrorist attack, according to an unnamed Israeli official quoted by Israeli news website Ynet.

Lives of prisoners at risk without agreement with Hamas, Israeli army warns

Before the discovery of the six bodies, Israel said there were still 107 prisoners held in the Gaza Strip, including several who died.

Hamas has previously said dozens of prisoners have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip during the 11-month genocidal war.

Israel estimates that Hamas is holding more than 100 hostages in the Gaza Strip, some of whom have likely already been killed.

For months, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to secure a prisoner exchange and a ceasefire, as well as allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to end the war.

The discovery of the six bodies has led to an intensification of protests in Israel, and growing accusations against Netanyahu of hindering a prisoner exchange and ceasefire negotiations.

Growing death toll

Israel is flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and faces international condemnation over its ongoing brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Israel, currently on trial at the International Court of Justice for genocide against the Palestinians, has been waging a devastating war in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 40,861 Palestinians have been killed and 94,398 injured. In addition, at least 11,000 people are missing, presumed to have died under the rubble of their homes across the Strip.

Palestinian and international organizations say most of those killed and injured are women and children.

‘Horrifying civilian death toll’ in Gaza as UN renews call for ceasefire

Israeli authorities say 1,200 soldiers and civilians died in flooding at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on October 7. Israeli media have published reports suggesting that many Israelis died that day as a result of “friendly fire.”

The Israeli war led to a severe famine, mainly in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression also led to the forcible displacement of nearly two million people from across the Gaza Strip. The vast majority of those displaced were forced to flee the densely populated southern city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt, in the largest mass Palestinian exodus since the Nakba in 1948.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began to move from the south to central Gaza, constantly seeking safety.

(PC, Anadolu)