CEASEFIRE CALLS
After Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday after a 12-day war, Netayahu faced renewed calls to agree a ceasefire with Hamas after more than 20 months of war in Gaza.
“And now Gaza. It’s time to finish it there too. Bring back the hostages, end the war,” opposition leader Yair Lapid of the centre-right Yesh Atid party wrote on X.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel’s war against Iran was “contributing to the successes in Gaza, but it will still take a bit more time”.
The October 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,077 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
