He spoke exclusively with World News Tonight anchor David Muir.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again rejected the idea of a ceasefire in Gaza unless hostages are released, and also addressed Gaza’s post-war future in an exclusive interview with David Muir, host of ABC News’ “World News Tonight.”
President Joe Biden and senior administration officials are pressing Israel for a temporary “humanitarian” pause in the fighting so that more aid can enter Gaza and more civilians can flee the fighting in the Palestinian enclave.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed the matter on Monday, according to the White House, although no clear agreement was reached. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration considered the two parties to be at “the beginning of this conversation.”
“What they are proposing is a humanitarian truce. Will there not be a truce?” Moir pressed Netanyahu shortly after his conversation with Biden.
Netanyahu responded by saying: “Well, there will be no ceasefire, a general ceasefire in Gaza without the release of our hostages.” “In terms of small tactical stops, an hour here, an hour there. We’ve had them before, I think we’ll check the conditions in order to enable cargo and humanitarian goods to enter, or our hostages, individual hostages to leave.” But I don’t think there will be a general ceasefire.”
Netanyahu continued: “I think that this will hinder the war effort. It will hinder our efforts to extract our hostages because the only thing that works with these criminals in Hamas is the military pressure that we are applying.”
Moir then asked Netanyahu whether there would be such a pause if Hamas agreed to release the hostages. According to Israeli officials, the movement is holding 241 people.
Netanyahu responded, saying: “There will be a ceasefire for this purpose.”
The month-long conflict has killed more than 10,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. This number includes 4,104 children. In Israel, more than 1,400 people were killed and 6,900 injured, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Future control of Gaza?
The Biden administration is walking a diplomatic tightrope while defending Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas, but also trying to reduce civilian deaths and looking to a way forward for Palestinians after the conflict ends.
Muir noted that Biden had previously said it would be a “mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza, and asked Netanyahu who should govern the region when the fighting ends.
The Prime Minister indicated that he believes Israel will have a role to play “for an indefinite period.” Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant suggested that the final stage of this plan would be to eliminate “Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” and create “a new security reality for the citizens of Israel.”
“Those who do not want to continue on the path of Hamas,” Netanyahu told Moyer. “Certainly not – I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, have overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is an outbreak of Hamas terrorism on a scale we can’t imagine.”
Asked whether the Biden administration agrees with or supports Netanyahu’s view, Kirby said discussions about the future of Gaza are continuing and nothing has been decided.
Kirby said: “What we support is that Hamas will no longer be able to control Gaza.” “We can’t go back to October 6th.
Kirby continued: “We are in talks with our Israeli counterparts about what governance in Gaza should look like after the conflict, and I do not think that any solutions have been reached one way or another.” “Who will do what and for how long. So, this is an active discussion that we are having, not only with Israel but with other partners in the region because obviously whatever it looks like, it cannot look like it did.” As I said on October 6th.
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