Hamas on Friday said it \u201cconsiders positively\u201d an Israeli roadmap towards a full Gaza ceasefire announced by US President Joe Biden, who urged an end to the almost eight-month war. But swiftly afterwards, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poured cold water on Biden\u2019s talk of peace, insisting the army would continue fighting until it had \u201celiminated\u201d Hamas\u2019s capacity to rule Gaza and pose a military threat. Biden\u2019s address came as Israeli troops pushed into central Rafah, escalating the war with Hamas despite international objections to any assault on the southern Gaza city. Outlining how the war might end, Biden said Israel\u2019s three-stage offer would begin with a six-week phase that would see Israeli forces withdraw from all populated areas of Gaza. It would also see the \u201crelease of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for (the) release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners\u201d. Israel and the Palestinians would then negotiate during those six weeks for a lasting ceasefire \u2014 but the truce would continue while the talks remained underway, Biden said. The US president urged Hamas to accept the Israeli offer. \u201cIt\u2019s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,\u201d he said, in comments echoed by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Hamas in a statement on Friday evening said it \u201cconsiders positively\u201d Biden\u2019s speech regarding \u201ca permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and the exchange of prisoners\u201d. UN chief Antonio Guterres \u201cstrongly hopes\u201d the latest development \u201cwill lead to an agreement by the parties for lasting peace\u201d, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the Israeli offer \u201cprovides a glimpse of hope and a possible path out of the war\u2019s deadlock\u201d, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed a \u201cbalanced and realistic\u201d approach to end the bloodshed. Israel insists on war aims But Netanyahu took issue with Biden\u2019s presentation of what was on the table, insisting the transition from one stage to the next in the proposed roadmap was \u201cconditional\u201d and crafted to allow Israel to maintain its war aims. \u201cThe prime minister authorised the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving (the return of hostages), while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved,\u201d Netanyahu\u2019s office said in a statement. Those aims include \u201cthe return of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas\u2019s military and governmental capabilities\u201d, it added. \u201cThe exact outline proposed by Israel, including the conditional transition from stage to stage, allows Israel to maintain these principles.\u201d Hamas has been careful about commenting on ceasefire proposals put to it by Egyptian, Qatari or US mediators. It accepted one earlier this year only for it to be disavowed by Israel. Earlier on Friday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel of \u201cusing negotiations as a cover to continue its aggression\u201d, saying Hamas \u201crefuses to be a part of these manoeuvres\u201d. Israel has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas since the Palestinian fighter group attacked southern Israel on October 7. Israel sent tanks and troops into Rafah in early May, ignoring concerns over the safety of displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering in the city on the Egyptian border. On Friday, soldiers were operating in the city centre where they uncovered rocket launchers and tunnel shafts and dismantled a Hamas weapons storage facility, the army said. Blinken says aid situation \u2018dire\u2019 A stream of civilians has flooded out of Rafah, taking their belongings on their shoulders, in cars or on donkey-drawn carts. Before the Rafah offensive began, the United Nations said up to 1.4 million people were sheltering in the city. Since then, one million have fled the area, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said. The Israeli seizure of the Rafah crossing has further slowed sporadic deliveries of aid for Gaza\u2019s 2.4 million people and effectively shuttered the territory\u2019s main exit point. Israel said at the weekend that aid deliveries had been stepped up. But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged Friday that the humanitarian situation was \u201cdire\u201d despite US efforts to bring in more assistance. The World Food Programme said daily life had become \u201capocalyptic\u201d in parts of southern Gaza since Israel began its assault on Rafah in early May. Jordan announced it will host a summit on June 11, jointly organised with Egypt and the United Nations, bringing together aid agency chiefs and heads of donor governments to discuss the humanitarian response. \u2018Everything is ashes\u2019 The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas\u2019s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,284 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory\u2019s health ministry. A medical official at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza\u2019s Deir al-Balah said eight people, including two children, were killed in an air strike that hit a house in Al-Bureij refugee camp. Another source at Nuseirat\u2019s Al-Awda Hospital reported three deaths in a strike on a car. In northern Gaza, witnesses said that after carrying out a three-week operation in the town of Jabalia and its neighbouring refugee camp, troops had ordered residents of nearby Beit Hanoun to evacuate ahead of an imminent assault. The Israeli army said troops \u201ccompleted their mission in eastern Jabalia and began preparation for continued operations in the Gaza Strip\u201d. Jabalia shopkeeper Belal al-Kahlot said there was nothing left of his store after the Israeli operation. \u201cEverything is ashes.\u201d The Israeli military announced the deaths of two soldiers in Gaza, taking to 294 the number of Israeli troops killed since the start of ground operations in late October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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