Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared this Friday (10), in a video message, that the next stages of the ceasefire plan after the handover of the hostages include the handover of weapons by Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, even if this requires the use of force.
“We are surrounding Hamas on all sides in preparation for the next stages of the plan, in which Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized. If this is achieved by good, so be it. If not, it will be achieved by evil,” he warned.
Netanyahu also praised the decisions his government has been taking throughout the war offensive,
“I also say that, to say the least, it was not easy. I had to face enormous pressures, both internal and external: pressure not to enter Rafah [do ex-presidente dos EUA, Joe Biden]pressure not to take the Philadelphia Axis, pressure not to operate in other scenarios, pressure to stop the war and withdraw from the Strip, when Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and Iran were at the height of their power. But I firmly rejected all these pressures because I had only one consideration in mind: Israel’s security,” he declared.
Netanyahu also thanked his negotiating team for finalizing the agreement, led by his Foreign Minister Ron Dermer, and, above all, Trump and his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
“I want to thank President Trump for his overall leadership and tireless efforts in formulating this plan for the return of the hostages. In this regard, he has also demonstrated once again his great friendship and affection for our people and our country,” Netanyahu concluded.
Agreement in force
The ceasefire agreement and the beginning of the first phase of United States President Donald Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip came into force this Friday at 12pm (local time, 6am Brasília), after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza City, as agreed in the document. With this, the 72-hour period began in which the 48 people still held captive must be released.
After the withdrawal of troops to the “yellow line” within the Strip – the color of the map offered by the White House when announcing the agreement -, the EFE Agency was able to see how dozens of Gazans began to move north, towards the city of Gaza, along the Al Rashid coastal road.
Israeli forces also abandoned the military checkpoint located in the Netzarim Corridor, south of the capital. In this first withdrawal, Israel remains in around 53% of the territory of Gaza, although before the ceasefire it was present in more than 80%.
Military spokesman in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, confirmed in a statement that movement from south to north of Gaza is permitted through both Rashid and the Salah al-Din road, but warned that the north of the enclave – Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Shujaiya – remains dangerous due to the “concentration of troops”, as well as the entry into the Mediterranean Sea.
