ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Netanyahu rejects Hamas truce plan after meeting with Blinken
Associated Press and Staff
February 7, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected a proposal for a Gaza war truce by Hamas, saying victory was within reach and only total defeat of the movement that rules the blockaded strip would ensure Israel’s security.”We are on the path to total victory. Victory is within reach,” he said at a televised press briefing, adding that triumph was months away. “Only total victory will allow us to restore security in Israel, both in the north and in the south.” The Israeli premier was speaking a day after Hamas said it had delivered its response to a proposed ceasefire deal for Gaza drawn up by US and Israeli spy chiefs and delivered to Hamas last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Nearly quarter of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza dead, IDF believe At least 32 hostages held in Gaza, nearly a quarter of the estimated 136 hostages held captive in the Hamas-run enclave, are dead, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing the IDF. The families of the 32 deceased individuals whose deaths have been confirmed have been informed. Hamas has yet to confirm or reject the IDF report. Further, the Islamist terror organization has a history of reporting hostages killed in captivity as having been hit by Israeli airstrikes.

TIMES OF ISRAEL Released hostages tell PM: Only saving remaining captives will be ‘absolute victory’ Five women released from captivity in Gaza during a weeklong truce in late November made an emotional plea Wednesday, calling on the government to do everything necessary to secure the release of the remaining 136 hostages, saying only that would represent an “absolute victory” for Israel. Their remarks stood in sharp contrast to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who moments before in a separate press conference had promised the nation that Israel was closing in on the “absolute victory” of eradicating Hamas from the Gaza Strip