Netanyahu urges Gazans to take future into their own handspublished at 18:39 British Summer Time
18:39 BST
Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem
Speaking to an audience at the US embassy in Jerusalem tonight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel had accepted the proposals relayed to Israel and Hamas over the weekend.
And he urged the people of Gaza to follow suit.
“If President Trump’s proposal is accepted,” Mr Netanyahu told his audience, “the war can end immediately.”
The latest US proposals would see a ceasefire, the immediate release of all Israeli hostages and the start of negotiations on an end to the conflict.
Israel’s actions, Mr Netanyahu said, could “open the door” to a conclusion of the conflict
The prime minister urged the people of Gaza not to be “derailed” by Hamas, whose leaders lived in sumptuous villas and did not care about Gaza’s civilians.
“Stand up for your rights and for your future,” he said. “Make peace with us. Accept President Trump’s proposal. Don’t worry, you can do it, and we can promise you a different future.”
Having attempted to decapitate Hamas (we still don’t know the results of the operation in Doha), Mr Netanyahu is telling Gazans to take matters into their own hands.
He made a similar appeal to the people of Iran during Israel’s twelve-day assault on the regime and its nuclear programme earlier this year.
But the exhausted population of Gaza, who have seen tens of thousands of their people killed and entire cities bombed to rubble, are unlikely to respond favourably, even if they could.
Hamas maintains a military presence in the Gaza Strip, powerful enough to intimidate the local population and mount occasional guerilla attacks on Israeli soldiers.