Netanyahu: Israel will not accept ceasefire without release of hostages in Gaza

2024-04-07 19:53:25Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Netanyahu: Israel will not accept ceasefire without release of hostages in Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, six months after the Hamas attack, that Israel would not agree to a ceasefire in Gaza without the hostages being freed.

Netanyahu said despite mounting international pressure, Israel will not yield to Hamas' "extreme" demands.

He made the comments at a cabinet meeting, while a new round of talks is expected in Egypt in an attempt to hold a ceasefire.

An Israeli government official confirmed on Sunday that an Israeli delegation will participate in negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict and an agreement to release hostages.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has withdrawn a number of ground troops from the southern part of the Gaza Strip, leaving only one brigade there six months after the offensive began, an army spokesman said on Sunday.

Israel has reduced the number of troops in Gaza starting at the beginning of the year to relieve reservists and under increasing pressure from its ally, Washington, to improve the humanitarian situation.

The army did not provide details on the reasons for the soldiers' withdrawal or how many of them would leave.

It is unclear whether the withdrawal means postponing a long-foretelled incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which Netanyahu says is necessary to eliminate Hamas.

Palestinian residents of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which has been under Israeli bombardment in recent months, said they had seen Israeli forces leave the city center and withdraw from eastern parts. /America's 1


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