Two Israeli ministers, Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, have publicly opposed a Gaza truce deal. They have called for the invasion of Rafah, Hamas’s last bastion in the Palestinian territory, and the destruction of Hamas. The ministers’ stance is in line with the government’s initial plan when it went to war after the Islamist movement’s October 7 attack.
Diplomatic efforts have been intensified to reach a truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza amid growing calls against a ground assault on Rafah. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send troops into Rafah, where more than 1.5 million civilians have taken refuge, but is under tremendous international and domestic pressure to strike a deal to free the hostages.
A Hamas delegation is scheduled to arrive in Egypt on Monday to deliver the group’s response to Israel’s new hostage and truce proposal, which is reportedly backed by Egypt. The proposal includes a willingness to discuss the “restoration of sustainable calm” in Gaza after hostages are released. This is the first time in the nearly seven-month war that Israeli leaders have suggested they are open to discussing an end to the war.
Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been trying to mediate a new truce ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel estimates that 129 hostages seized on October 7 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians. Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,454 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.
