US Gaza plan 'not a good deal,' but Israel accepts it, says Netanyahu adviser

Speaking in an interview with British media, Ophir Falk, Netanyahu's senior foreign policy adviser, said that US President Joe Biden's proposed three-phase plan to end the war in Gaza is “a deal that we agreed – it’s not a good deal, but we sincerely agreed.” want all the hostages to be released.”

Falk was speaking to British newspaper The Sunday Times.

The conditions imposed by Israel, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization”, have not changed, he added. He added that many details of the plan still needed to be refined.

The project still faces fierce opposition from the Israeli far right. Two ministers – Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – said they were opposed to reaching a deal before the destruction of Hamas.

Both ministers threatened to leave and collapse Israel's governing coalition if Netanyahu accepted the deal.

But the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, speaking on X, wrote that he supported the agreement. “I want to thank President Biden for his speech and his continued efforts to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza,” he said.

“I told the Prime Minister that I would give him and the government my full support for an agreement that will see the release of the hostages.”

EVENTS IN TEL AVIV

Some anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv were arrested after scuffles broke out between police and demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Israeli government.

Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand that the Israeli government reach a deal to free hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

They also called for new elections and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Saturday, Netanyahu called a permanent ceasefire in Gaza a “non-starter” until long-standing Israeli conditions for ending the war are met.

The statement appears to undermine a proposal that US President Joe Biden announced on Friday as an Israeli proposal.

Biden called the three-phase proposal “a truly watershed moment.”

He said the first phase of the proposed deal would last six weeks and include a “total and complete ceasefire”, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the liberation of a number of hostages, particularly women and the elderly. and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The second phase would include the release of all remaining hostages, including male soldiers, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

And the third phase calls for the start of major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding after the devastation caused by the war.

Hamas issued a statement reacting positively to the agreement, saying it was ready to engage “constructively” in any proposal based on a permanent end to the fighting.

While Biden acknowledged it would be difficult to keep the proposal on track, Netanyahu's comments Saturday suggest the deal could be dead before anything has been agreed.

In a joint statement, Qatar, Egypt and the United States all called on Hamas and Israel to finalize a deal that embodies the principles outlined by Biden on Friday.

Meanwhile, smoke was seen rising towards Rafah in southern Gaza on Saturday as the Israeli offensive in the besieged territory continues.

The town near the border with Egypt was home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, forced to flee again after the Israeli army launched new operations in early May.

The World Health Organization said Saturday that there were almost no health services in Gaza's southernmost city.

The UN estimates that around 900,000 people have fled Rafah to seek safer areas elsewhere in Gaza.