Israel and Hamas at war, day 238 | Hamas considers the new road map for a ceasefire in Gaza “positive”

(Rafah) The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas judged “positive” Friday evening the new Israeli road map with a view to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages unveiled by American President Joe Biden .

In a speech from the White House, Mr. Biden called on the Islamist movement to accept this plan, submitted according to him to Hamas via the Qatari mediator.

“We cannot pass up” this opportunity for an agreement in Gaza, launched Joe Biden in the eighth month of a devastating war in the besieged Palestinian territory and threatened with famine according to the UN. “It’s time for this war to end. »

The first phase, Mr. Biden said, would be a complete ceasefire, with a withdrawal of Israeli troops from “inhabited areas of Gaza” for a period of six weeks.

The end of the fighting, according to him, would be accompanied by the release of certain Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Hamas attack on October 7 against Israel, in particular women and the sick, and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

This temporary ceasefire could become “permanent” if Hamas “respects its commitments,” added the American president. The next phase of the plan would include the release of all hostages still held.

“Hamas views positively what was included today in US President Joe Biden’s speech regarding a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and the exchange of prisoners,” Hamas said. indicated the Palestinian Islamist movement in a press release.

For his part, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hopes that this latest development “will lead to an agreement between the parties for lasting peace,” said his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Without referring to Mr. Biden’s speech, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that “the government is united in its desire to return our hostages as quickly as possible (and) the prime minister has authorized the negotiating team to present a plan to achieve this objective.

But at the same time he stressed that “the war will not stop until all its goals are achieved,” citing “the return” of all the hostages and “the elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.” . The road map proposed by Israel makes it possible to “maintain these principles,” he continues.

Mr. Netanyahu was invited by Republican and Democratic parliamentary leaders to speak to Congress, announced House Leader Mike Johnson.

“Not negotiable”

Earlier Friday, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said his movement had informed mediators that its “demands”, especially a permanent ceasefire and a total withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip, were “non-negotiable”.

Joe Biden’s announcement came at a time when Israeli forces advanced to the center of Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip that has become the epicenter of the conflict, despite the objections of the international community which says it fears for the civilian population.

Israel has vowed to “destroy” Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, after the unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by infiltrated commandos of the Islamist movement. from Gaza in the south of Israeli territory.

More than 1,189 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. And of the 252 people taken as hostages, 121 are still being held in Gaza, of whom 37 are dead, according to the army.

In response, the army besieged the Gaza Strip and launched a bombing campaign followed by a ground offensive, which left 36,284 people dead, most of them civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Gaza-led government. by Hamas.

The army in the center of Rafah

Israeli military operations have also destroyed many neighborhoods, displaced the majority of Gaza’s approximately 2.4 million residents and caused a major humanitarian catastrophe.

Earlier on Friday, witnesses reported Israeli strikes on Rafah, from which around a million Palestinians have fled since Israeli tanks entered the city on May 7.

Israeli forces in central Rafah discovered Hamas “rocket launchers” and “tunnels,” according to the army. On Wednesday, they took control in Rafah of the border strip with Egypt, an area of ​​approximately 14 km through which Hamas “transited weapons” according to the army.

Many people continued to flee Rafah, carrying their belongings on their shoulders, in cars or on donkey carts.

Despite the wave of international indignation raised by the bombing on Sunday of a displaced persons camp in Rafah, which left 45 dead, including children according to Hamas, the army continued its offensive in this city launched with the declared objective of eliminate the last battalions of the Palestinian movement.

In the afternoon, Hamas published a video on Telegram with a recording of a woman’s voice presented as that of one of the people captured on October 7. The recording could not immediately be authenticated.

“Apocalyptic”

On the humanitarian level, Cairo and Israel are blaming each other for blocking the delivery of aid through the Rafah border post with Egypt, which has been closed since the Israeli army took control of it on the Palestinian side on May 7.

The Rafah crossing is crucial for the entry of this aid.

Life has become “apocalyptic” in certain areas since the start of the Rafah offensive, the UN has warned.

In Jabalia (north), the spokesperson for civil defense, Mahmoud Bassal, affirmed that in 20 days, “more than 350” bodies had been removed from the rubble and reported the withdrawal of the army from the sector.