Netanyahu clarifies Israel’s priorities in cease-fire negotiations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel’s continued military operations in Rafah had forced Hamas to come to the negotiating table. U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed a cease-fire proposal allowing Israel to recover the hostages still in Gaza without giving up its other objectives for the war, Netanyahu added. In previous statements, Netanyahu’s office has indicated one of its main objectives for the war is completely eliminating Hamas. Roughly 120 hostages remain in Gaza, according to the American Jewish Committee.

What exactly is Israel demanding? Netanyahu’s office said it had four requirements for any cease-fire agreement Israel signs:

• The agreement will allow Israel to resume fighting until it accomplishes all of its objectives for the war.

• Hamas must not smuggle weapons to Gaza from Egypt.

• Armed terrorists will not be allowed to return to northern Gaza from where they’re cornered in southern Gaza.

• Israel will receive the maximum possible number of living hostages from Hamas.

What’s happening on the ground in Gaza? The Israel Defense Forces on Monday reported that their troops had found firearms, ammunition, and other military equipment on a compound that hosted a United Nations school in Gaza City. Before conducting military operations in the area, the IDF allowed civilians to evacuate, it said. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that it evacuated dozens of patients from endangered hospitals in response to that evacuation order. Israeli forces previously killed several Hamas fighters and destroyed a tunnel that passed under the UN facility, the IDF reported in another statement.