New Gaza ceasefire proposal by Biden

CGTN Europe

New #Gaza #ceasefire proposal by U.S. president Joe #Biden.  How would #Israel respond?  CGTN’s Jonathan Regev has more from Tel Aviv.

Transcript

00:00U.S. President Joe Biden has unveiled a new Israeli proposal to end the conflict in Gaza.

00:06The deal consists of three stages, which the president admits still has details to negotiate.

00:13The first phase of the plan involves a complete ceasefire.

00:16Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas in Gaza, and there would be an exchange

00:21of some hostages and hostage remains for Palestinian prisoners.

00:26This phase would also include a surge in aid, with 600 trucks entering Gaza each day.

00:32The second phase focuses on a permanent end to hostilities and the return of all remaining

00:36hostages.

00:37Israeli forces would then entirely withdraw from Gaza.

00:41And the final phase, which sets this deal apart from previous proposals, is a major

00:46reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip.

00:49Well, let's talk to our correspondent, Jonathan Regev, who joins us now live from Tel Aviv.

00:54Jonathan, good to talk to you.

00:55What have we heard from Israel about this proposal so far, particularly how is Prime

01:01Minister Netanyahu reacting to it?

01:08So Andrew, two different reactions coming from the prime minister's office.

01:14One came last night, just minutes after the speech by U.S. President Biden, a statement

01:20out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying that Israel is committed to

01:24bring back all of its hostages and that the team which is holding the negotiations on

01:31behalf of Israel has been given a larger mandate to negotiate according to this plan.

01:37And another reaction coming this afternoon, stating that Israel still insists on the three

01:44main issues which it has insisted on all along.

01:47The first one being eliminating all of the governing and military powers of Hamas.

01:53The second one being bringing all of the hostages back.

01:56And the third one being making sure that Gaza is no longer a threat on Israel.

02:02Ironically enough, we've not heard any other comments from Israel.

02:06That is due to the fact that the Biden speech was given on Friday night already inside the

02:12Jewish Sabbath.

02:13And it's quite traditional in Israel that unless it's a major emergency, we do not hear

02:18a lot of public comments when it comes to the Jewish Sabbath.

02:23But the Sabbath will end in a few hours and then we can expect a lot of reactions, especially

02:29from the ministers coming from the far right.

02:32Those are being B'Tselel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, both far right figures and also

02:37religious figures who would not react on the Jewish Sabbath.

02:41But we can expect that to happen as soon as that is over.

02:44In about three hours, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are the leading figures which have opposed

02:50any deal which does not, according to their words, crush Hamas altogether.

02:57And this deal, if we look at the fine tuning of it, does not speak of basically eradicating

03:03Hamas off the face of the earth.

03:05And that is something that these two ministers have been asking for.

03:09Therefore, we can expect quite some opposition on their behalf to the deal proposed by U.S.

03:16President Joe Biden.

03:17On the other hand, we also have the regular Saturday night protests by the hostage families.

03:24They of course will endorse this deal because they see it as a path to receiving the hostages

03:30back, something that Israel has not seen for many, many weeks now.

03:34We know we're expecting to hear some kind of a statement from hostage families in just

03:39about an hour's time.

03:41So this main debate that has been practically dividing the Israeli society for seven and

03:47a half months now will enter another phase today.

03:51On the one hand, the ministers from the far right, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, we can expect

03:56them to release statements quite opposing this Biden deal.

04:00And of course, it may have political implications as basically the Netanyahu coalition, the

04:06Netanyahu government depends on these two ministers.

04:09On the other hand, hostage families and their supporters within the political arena and

04:14outside who would support such an agreement.

04:18And in between, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to decide.

04:22Indeed.

04:23Jonathan, thanks very much indeed.

04:24Jonathan Regev there live for us in Tel Aviv.

Category

Transcript

Recommended