Israel has rejected a proposal for a five-year ceasefire with Hamas, under which all Israeli hostages still held in Gaza would have been released, according to Israel’s stateowned broadcaster Kan. A senior Israeli official told local media that Israel “has officially rejected the proposal,” according to Kan.
“Some ideas are being floated by certain Arab states, such as a fiveyear halt to the war,” the official said. “There is no chance we will agree to a ‘hudna’ (a temporary truce) with Hamas that would only allow it to rearm, recover, and continue its war against the State of Israel with even greater force,” Xinhua news agency reported.
On April 26, a Hamas delegation led by senior leader Khalil al-Hayya agreed in Cairo to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for a five-year truce, according to an Egyptian security source.
The last exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees took place under a ceasefire that came into effect in January. Israel ended the ceasefire in March after about two months and resumed its deadly offensive in the Palestinian enclave. The renewed Israeli attacks have so far killed 2,222 Palestinians and injured 5,751 others, Gaza health authorities said, adding the death toll in the enclave since the war began in October 2023 has risen to 52,314, with 117,792 injured.
According to Israeli authorities, 59 hostages remain in Gaza, including 58 of the 251 taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel. The Israeli military has confirmed that at least 35 hostages of those still held are believed to be dead.
Head of Shin Bet to step down
Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency, has announced that he would resign over his failure to prevent the Hamas-led surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Bar made the announcement on April 27 at a memorial service for Shin Bet’s fallen combatants, saying he would step down on June 15.
“After years on many fronts, in one night on the southern front, the sky fell. All systems collapsed. The Shin Bet also failed to provide an early warning (about the Hamas attack),” Bar said, referring to the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023, that resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 others.
“As the head of the organisation, I took the responsibility,” he added. Bar’s resignation comes amid a standoff between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who announced Bar’s dismissal in March, citing a loss of confidence in him.
The dispute comes against the backdrop of a blame game over the failure to prevent the October 7 attack.
