Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure<\/a> to secure their release as well as over his plans to expand the war.<\/p>\nLast week, unnamed Arab officials were quoted as saying that regional mediators, Egypt and Qatar, were preparing a new framework for a deal that would involve releasing all remaining hostages at the same time in return for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.<\/p>\n
However, this will be difficult to do in a short time frame as Israel is demanding that Hamas give up control of Gaza as well as its weapons.<\/p>\n
This is likely to be why, at a news conference on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told journalists that Cairo was still “making great efforts” with Qatar and the US – the other mediators – to revive the earlier phased plan.<\/p>\n
“The main goal is to return to the original proposal – a 60-day cease-fire – along with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian prisoners, and the flow of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza without obstacles or conditions,” Abdelatty said.<\/p>\n
The Israeli prime minister says Israel’s goals have not changed. He says that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas surrenders. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu has said that, ultimately, Israel must keep open-ended security control over Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal to exchange the hostages it is holding for Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails. It also wants a full pull-out of Israeli forces and an end to the war. <\/p>\n
It refuses to disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is created.<\/p>\n
Speaking to i24, Netanyahu also reiterated an idea that Palestinians should simply leave the territory through “voluntary” emigration, saying: “They’re not being pushed out, they’ll be allowed to exit.” <\/p>\n
He went on: “All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us.”<\/p>\n
Palestinians, human rights groups and many in the international community have warned that any forced displacement of people from Gaza violates international law.<\/p>\n
Many Palestinians fear a repeat of what they call the “Nakba” (Catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced from their homes in the fighting that came before and after the state of Israel was created in 1948. <\/p>\n
Most Gazans are descendants of those original refugees and themselves hold official refugee status.<\/p>\n
UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has greatly limited the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.<\/p>\n
The UN’s World Food Programme has warned that starvation and malnutrition are at the highest levels in Gaza since the conflict began.<\/p>\n
Hamas’s 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.<\/p>\n
Israel’s offensive has since killed at least 61,722 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It says that 235 people including 106 children have also died due to starvation and malnutrition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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![\"ABIR](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/bbb6\/live\/d07df3c0-781f-11f0-b256-b5155fe76a0e.jpg.webp\")
ABIR SULTAN\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n