Why is Israel not OK with the Gaza ceasefire plan that was accepted by Hamas? | In Focus podcast
Seven months into Israel\u2019s military assault on Gaza, more than 34,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed, more than 78,000 wounded, and northern Gaza is facing a \u201cfull-blown famine\u201d according to the UN. Earlier this week, there was a slight whiff of optimism in Gaza when Hamas announced that it had accepted a three-phase ceasefire proposal brokered by Qatar and Egypt, and Israel, too, sent a delegation to Cairo to discuss it further.\nBut in the interim, Israel ordered Rafah to be evacuated, launched aerial strikes on the city, and took control of the border crossing there, which was critical for sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. Meanwhile, President Biden has halted a major shipment of bombs headed for Israel, signalling that US weapons should not be used to target Palestinian civilians.\nWhat exactly was the ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted but Israel didn\u2019t? Will the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s political future survive a ceasefire agreement at this stage of the conflict, when Israel\u2019s self-proclaimed military objective of \u201cdestroying Hamas\u201d hasn\u2019t been met? Would the Biden administration\u2019s pausing of the shipment of offensive weapons have any effect on Israel\u2019s military plans going forward?\n\nGuest: Stanly Johny, The Hindu\u2019s International Affairs Editor.\nHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.\nEdited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.