Netanyahu rejects Hamas’ ‘delusional’ cease-fire demands

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ terms for a cease-fire Wednesday, saying that agreeing to the group’s demands would “invite another massacre” and predicting an Israeli victory “in a matter of months.”

His comments came after Hamas stipulated the deal should see the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, among other conditions, in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages abducted on October 7.

At a press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu called Hamas’ three-stage proposal to end the war “delusional” and pledged to continue Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, now in its fifth month, until achieving “absolute victory.”

“There is no alternative to the military collapse [of Hamas],” he said. Unless Hamas is destroyed, “the evil axis of Iran and its affiliates will continue unhindered its campaign of killing and aggression,” Netanyahu added.

The setback in peace talks comes as Israel’s forces push towards Rafah, a city on the border with Egypt where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled.

Over 27,000 Palestinians have so far been killed by Israel’s offensive in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry, with millions more displaced and facing famine and disease.

Netanyahu met in Tel Aviv with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, who said Hamas’ proposal contained “clear non-starters” but left “space for agreement to be reached.”

“We will work at that relentlessly until we get there,” Blinken, who is on his fifth trip to the region since the outbreak of the conflict, said.