Israel must take hostage deal, its military chief reportedly says

Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff has said there is a “deal on the table” for the remaining hostages in Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Lt Gen Eyal Zamir reportedly said the Israeli military had brought about the conditions for a deal, and it is now in Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s hands,” Channel 13 News reports.

On Tuesday, Israel’s security cabinet is expected to discuss the latest proposal advanced by regional mediators, which Hamas accepted a week ago.

It follows mass demonstrations in Israel earlier this month as hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv, calling for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Hamas and defied criticism over his plans to expand the war, from the international community and from Zamir himself.

According to Israeli media, Zamir has argued against a full-scale occupation, citing fears of endangering the lives of hostages and miring an exhausted military in Gaza.

The offensive would forcibly displace a million people from Gaza City to camps in the south but Israel has not provided an exact timetable of when its troops would enter Gaza City.

Netanyahu is reported to want the entire city under Israeli occupation from 7 October.

At least 1.9 million people in Gaza – or about 90% of the population – have already been displaced, according to the UN.

Last week a UN-backed hunger monitor said there was now famine in Gaza City and that more than 500,000 people in Gaza were facing “starvation, destitution and death”. The UN and aid agencies say this is a direct result of Israeli restrictions on letting food and aid into Gaza. Israel described the monitor’s report as an “outright lie”, denying there is starvation there.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 62,686 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

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