TEL AVIV, July 7. /TASS/. The Gaza ceasefire deal that was proposed by US President Joe Biden and agreed by the Israeli side will make it possible for Israel to release its hostages who are kept in the Palestinian enclave without prejudice to the goals of its military operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"The plan that has been agreed to by Israel and which has been welcomed by President Biden will allow Israel to return hostages without infringing on the other objectives of the war," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

"Any deal will allow Israel to resume fighting until all of objectives of the war have been achieved," including the extermination of Hamas’ military and administrative potential and guarantees that there will be no threats to Israel from the Palestinian enclave in the future.

The Israeli prime minister insists that "there will be no smuggling of weapons to Hamas from Egypt to the Gaza border" and "there will be no return of thousands of armed terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip." He also emphasized that "Israel will maximize the number of living hostages who will be released from Hamas captivity."

"The Prime Minister is continuing to insist on the principles that have already been agreed to by Israel," the statement says.

On May 31, US President Joe Biden announced his three-phase Israel-Palestine ceasefire plan, with each phase lasting six weeks. The first stage envisages a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated localities in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons. Apart from that, the parties are supposed to begin talks during this stage, with the ceasefire staying in place until they reach an agreement. Phase two provides for the release of all surviving hostages, including the military. The third stage will see the beginning of the reconstruction of the war-devastated Gaza Strip.

The Israeli authorities have repeatedly said that they support Biden’s plan and this is Hamas that hampers the deal.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli side, as many as 110 hostages were released during this period.