Israel could return to war if captives are freed

Once Hamas had accepted the key elements of Donald Trump's peace plan, he ordered Israel to stop bombing.

- Michael Jansen, Political Correspondent

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip.

(Reuters)

Instead, Israel carried out dozens or air strikes and artillery shelling, adding to the 66,000 Palestinian fatalities during the 24-month war. Israel’s actions speak louder than words. Although Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has pro forma accepted Trump's plan for an end to the ongoing Gaza war, Netanyahu is a master at sabotaging any plan submitted to him and sticking to his agenda whether a majority of Israelis approve or not. His primary objective in the ongoing campaign in Gaza is the elimination of Hamas although most Israelis had long demanded an end to the war and the release by Hamas of 48 captives for which Israel is obliged to release 250 Palestinian prisoners-for-life and 1,700 Gazans Israel arrested during the war.

Israel’s interception of the latest flotilla in international waters while on route to Gaza has been castigated by governments and activists from the world over. Some 500 people from 44 countries including the US, Britain, Spain, Ireland, Malaysia and Turkey, were aboard the boats when Israeli warships surrounded and forced them to go to Israel's Ashdod port where the sailors were arrested and deported. This treatment conformed with previous efforts to break Israel's 18-year blockade of the coastal strip where 2.3 million Palestinians are trapped, starved, and deprived of medical needs, electricity, and fuel.