STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Hamas warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hindering efforts to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and facilitate a prisoner exchange by insisting on maintaining control of the Philadelphia Corridor, a strip of land that runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Hamas also dismissed the need for new proposals, referencing reports that the United States is preparing a new initiative for a prisoner exchange and cease-fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had rejected all elements of a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza that would help facilitate the release of hostages. “Hamas has rejected everything… I hope that changes because I want those hostages out,” Netanyahu told a news conference.
Families of U.S. hostages held by Hamas have pressed the White House to seriously consider bypassing Israel and cutting a unilateral deal with Hamas for their release, according to U.S. media reports. Discussions of this option are currently underway within the Biden administration.
The United States has charged Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and several other prominent figures in the Palestinian group in connection with its deadly attack in Israel on 7 October last year. The justice department said it was indicting six Hamas members with seven charges, including the murder of dozens of U.S. citizens, conspiracy to finance terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction. The criminal complaint covers decades of alleged attacks by Hamas, as well as last October’s unprecedented assault.
Israel’s main union ordered a nationwide general strike after soldiers recovered the bodies of six killed hostages from the Gaza Strip where the military is battling Palestinian militants. In the evening, tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities to protest the government and call for a hostage release deal. The bodies of the six hostages were recovered Saturday “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area” in southern Gaza, the military said.
