(The Age, 31/1/2024)
Question – What does ‘total victory’ look like to Netanyahu? Answer – Every Palestinian dead, in the sea or anywhere but Gaza or the West Bank – Mark
West Bank/Gaza/Doha: Hamas said on Tuesday it was weighing up a new ceasefire proposal in the war with Israel in Gaza, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces would not withdraw from the enclave until they had achieved “total victory”.
The developments came hours after Israeli commandos disguised as medical workers and Muslim women killed three Palestinian militants in an undercover raid on a hospital in the occupied West Bank – an action that underscored the risk of the Gaza conflict spreading to other fronts.
In Gaza itself, clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in the north of the enclave forced more Palestinian residents to flee to safer areas, and southern parts of the coastal enclave were hit by Israeli air strikes overnight.
Fighting intensified around Gaza’s largest hospital still in service, the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which is surrounded by Israeli troops, the World Health Organisation said.
The ceasefire proposal followed talks in Paris involving CIA Director William Burns, Qatar’s prime minister, the chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and the head of Egyptian intelligence.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said he was studying the plan and would go to Cairo to discuss it. He said the priority for the Palestinian militant group was to end the Israeli offensive – now in its fourth month – and secure a full pull-out of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu, speaking during a visit to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, said: “We will not compromise on anything less than total victory.”
Israel will achieve all its objectives, he said, adding: “That means eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
Until then no Palestinian prisoners will be freed from Israeli jails, Netanyahu said.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu’s comments “prove he isn’t interested in the success of the Paris meeting and doesn’t care about (Israeli) prisoners’ lives.”
Hamas allies Islamic Jihad also dampened the prospects of a truce, saying it would not engage in any hostage deals without a comprehensive ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Dressed as medics
In the raid at the Ibn Sina hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, about a dozen troops, including three in women’s garb and two dressed as Palestinian medical staff, paced through a corridor with rifles, CCTV footage showed.
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