Israel mourns dead hostages as doubts grow over Gaza ceasefire plan

Israel mourned on Tuesday the deaths of four prisoners in Gaza reported dead by the army, amid mounting doubts and international pressure over a plan outlined by US President Joe Biden for a ceasefire and hostage release.

Israeli attacks continued in the besieged Palestinian territory early Tuesday, particularly in Bureij in central Gaza, where local hospital sources reported several deaths.

In northern Israel, firefighters and soldiers battled forest fires that broke out after rocket fire from neighboring Lebanon. Since the Gaza war began almost eight months ago, there have been almost daily exchanges of fire in the border region between the Israeli army and the militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas.

The Israeli military announced on Monday the deaths of four hostages in Gaza who were kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. They are Chaim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Popplewell.

Their bodies are still in the hands of Hamas, it said.

Cooper, 84, Metzger, 80, and Perry, 80, were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, while Israeli-British national Popplewell, 51, was abducted from Kibbutz Nirim.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed his “deep sadness at Popplewell’s death” and added: “We reiterate our call on Hamas to send all hostages home.”

“They should have returned alive to their country and their families,” said the Hostages Families Forum.

– Intense pressure –

Netanyahu, a warlike veteran at the head of a fragile far-right coalition government, is under intense domestic pressure from several sides.

Relatives and supporters of the hostages have organized mass protests and called for a ceasefire – but his allies in the far-right coalition are threatening to overthrow the government if he agrees.

Biden on Friday unveiled an Israeli three-phase plan to end the bloody conflict, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territories without the power of Hamas.

However, Netanyahu’s office stressed that the war would continue until all of Israel’s “goals” were achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’ military and government capabilities.

The G7 countries said in a statement that their leaders “fully support” the agreement pushed by Biden and called on Hamas to accept it.

Hamas said on Friday it viewed Biden’s draft “positively” but has since made no official comment on the stalled negotiations, while mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have not announced any new talks.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt issued a statement on Monday supporting the recent diplomatic efforts.

– “Heartbreaking” –

UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland on Tuesday called on all parties to reach an agreement after visiting Gaza and “witnessing first-hand the devastating effects of the hostilities. The images of destruction and people’s suffering are heartbreaking.”

“There is a serious proposal on the table – outlined by President Biden – and I urge all parties to immediately reach an agreement to achieve a ceasefire and release the hostages. There is no alternative – and every delay, every day, simply costs more lives,” he posted on X.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer had previously quoted Netanyahu as saying that the draft presented by Biden was merely “incomplete” and that the plan would only temporarily halt fighting “for the purpose of releasing the hostages.”

There are no signs of a relaxation in the fighting. The war that has devastated the coastal region with 2.4 million inhabitants is soon entering its ninth month.

On Monday, the Israeli military announced that its forces had attacked “over 50 targets” over the past day. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip reported at least 19 deaths in the night-time attacks.

The war was triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7, in which 1,194 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to a count by the AFP news agency based on official Israeli figures.

The militants also took 251 hostages, 120 of whom are still in the Gaza Strip. According to the army, 41 of them are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory bombing and ground offensive have killed at least 36,470 people in Gaza, again mostly civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-controlled area.

According to the United Nations satellite analysis agency, around 55 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or “possibly damaged” since the war began.

– ‘This is no life’ –

Heavy fighting is taking place particularly in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, in the Rafah region near the Egyptian border. According to UN agencies, most of the civilians have now been displaced again.

The UN and other aid organizations have been warning for months about the looming threat of famine in the besieged area, where the humanitarian crisis is becoming increasingly acute.

Among bombed-out buildings in the southern city of Khan Yunis, displaced Gaza residents tried to remove sewage from their tents on Monday after a pipe burst and flooded them with dirty water.

“This is not life,” said Abdullah Barbakh.

“The sewage has flooded us. We cannot eat or drink and cannot sleep. We sleep on the streets,” said local resident Abdul Samad Barbakh.

In northern Israel, firefighters battled severe forest fires that broke out shortly after rocket and drone attacks from neighboring Lebanon forced a partial evacuation of Kiryat Shmona.

An AFP photographer observed heavy fires in parts of the northeastern city’s border area with Lebanon, where there are almost daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group on the fringes of the Gaza war.

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