Israel opposition leader urges Netanyahu to go to Egypt for Gaza ceasefire talks

Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to attend a new round of negotiations in Egypt to reach a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal with Hamas, Anadolu Agency reports.

“If Netanyahu is so convinced of his negotiating abilities, let him go to Egypt and sit there until he closes a deal,” Lapid said on X.

“This is what a responsible prime minister who cares about the lives of his citizens should do,” he added, asserting that “the only reason he doesn’t do it is because he no longer has a soul,”

Egypt is set to host a new round of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks between Israel and Hamas this week.

Several Israeli parts have criticised Netanyahu for adding new conditions to a ceasefire proposal, which are likely to hinder reaching a deal, according to the Israeli public broadcasting, KAN.

Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that Israel will not, under any circumstances, leave Gaza’s corridors “despite the enormous pressure it is under to do so.”

The Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-kilometre (8.69-mile) demilitarised buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, remains one of the major sticking points in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to stop the war.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on 7 October, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,200 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and nearly 93,000 injuries, according to local health authorities.

The ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

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