Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC, 23rd April. Israeli war cabinet on late Sunday held a meeting to discuss efforts for the release of remaining hostages held in Gaza, media reports cited an Israeli official.
According to news media reports the war cabinet members – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, and National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz held a meeting.
Israel government’s press office in a video statement released marked Passover on Sunday, Netanyahu said “This night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters do not sit at the Seder table and are still imprisoned in the hell of Hamas.”
He accused Hamas of rejecting proposals for a hostage deal “outright.”
Netanyahu announced that Israel will land “additional and painful blows” and will increase “military and political pressure” on Hamas to release the hostages, according to media reports.
The international mediators for weeks have facilitated talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal. But the talks have yielded no apparent breakthroughs.
Hamas indicated that it was not able to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of a ceasefire deal, news media reported, cited Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions.
According to the framework outlined by the negotiators, Hamas should release 40 of the remaining hostages, including all the women and sick and elderly men during a first six-week pause in the fighting. In exchange, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the report stated.
Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi on Sunday gave approval to battle plans at the Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba, the local Israeli media reported.
According to the IDF and The Times of Israel, head of the Israel’s Southern Command Major General Yaron Finkelman and other officers attended the “assessment of the situation and approval of plans for the continuation of the war.”
The Israeli soldiers have concluded a two-day operation in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm in the West Bank, media cited the IDF.
The report said that at least 14 people, including one child were killed in the Israeli soldiers’ operation, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health and official news agency Wafa.
According to IDF, security forces killed 10 “terrorists” and arrested 8 wanted suspects during its “extensive counterterrorism” operation which began last week on Thursday.
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