Jerusalem:
Israel and Hamas must exchange more hostages and prisoners on Saturday, but the violent reaction about President Donald Trump’s proposal for a Gaza acquisition of the United States shows doubts about the future of the fragile truce.
An Israeli campaign group urged the Government on Friday to continue with the truce of Gaza before a fifth exchange of hostage prisoners, even when Trump’s comments caused a fuss in the Middle East and beyond.
From his statement during a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has ordered his military to prepare for the “voluntary” relocation of the Gacios, while Hamas has rejected Trump’s plans as “absolutely unacceptable.”
Hamas and Israel will carry out a fifth exchange of hostages and prisoners on Saturday under El Alto El Fuego on January 19.
“A whole nation requires seeing the hostages to return home … Now is the time to ensure that the agreement is completed, until the last one,” said the Israeli campaign group that the Families and Missing Families forum in a statement Friday.
Israel and Hamas have completed four swaps under the first stage of the high the fire agreement.
The Palestinian militants, led by Hamas, have so far released 18 hostages in exchange for around 600 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli prisons.
El Alto El Fuego, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims to ensure the release of 33 hostages during the first 42 -day phase of the agreement.
Reaction
The fifth exchange is scheduled for Saturday, but none of the parties has revealed how many hosts will release Hamas or how many prisoners Israel will release in return.
“We have no updates” about how many hostages would be published on Saturday, the forum told the AFP.
Amid the uncertainty caused by Trump’s comments, Yala David, whose brother Evyatar is still being held in Gaza, urged “the negotiation team to act today to complete the final details of the agreement and guarantee the return of all hostages” .
“This must happen under this agreement, and if not, there will be a great black spot in the history of our state,” he said.
In an interview given to channel 14 of the Israeli station, Netanyahu said it was his “goal to perform” the first stage.
“As for the next phase, it is much more complex, but I hope we can achieve it,” he said.
Despite a regional and international reaction, and initial setback of the members of his administration, Trump has doubled his statement.
“The Gaza Strip would be delivered to the United States by Israel at the end of the fight,” he published on his Truth social platform on Thursday.
“The United States soldiers would not be needed! The stability for the region would reign!”
After Trump floated the idea for the first time, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of the gazanes of the territory “to any country willing to accept them “
Israel’s army said Friday that the head of the United States Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, met the Lieutenant Israeli Army Herzi Halevi this week for conversations about the “regional strategic situation.”
‘Unacceptable’
Netanyahu also expressed his support for the Trump Plan, announced at a joint press conference between the two leaders, describing it as “the first original idea that will be raised in years.”
However, Hamas condemned comments as “absolutely unacceptable.”
“Trump’s comments about Washington take control of Gaza to an open statement of intention to occupy the territory,” said spokesman Hazem Qassem.
“Gaza is for its people and they will not leave.”
The Egypt mediator also warned that Israeli support to Trump’s plan “weakens and destroys negotiations on a high fire agreement and incites a return to the fight.”
The negotiations for the second stage of Alto El Fuego will begin on Monday, but there have been no details about the state of the conversations.
The second stage aims to ensure the launch of more hostages and pave the way for a permanent end of the war, which began on October 7, 2023 with the unprecedented attack of Hamas against Israel.
During the attack, the militants took 251 hostages to Gaza. Seventy -six remain in captivity, including 34 to whom the Israeli army says they are dead.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from a union feed).
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