Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made known his position on the possibility of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas: that it must demand that Israel restart its military activities against Gaza after releasing the hostages. As international intermediaries were preparing in Cairo to launch negotiations, Netanyahu came up with five key conditions for halting the nine-month-old fighting, saying "Israel should be able to continue the military operations in Gaza until all the goals of the war have been achieved," according to the Xinhua news agency.
It must, he added, provide for the effective prevention of weapons smuggling into Gaza from Egypt—and also shut off the return of armed Hamas fighters into northern Gaza—have the safe release of hostages still being held there in Gaza, where more than 100 people remain, with some of them feared to have been killed during the fight.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel stated that on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces would keep on acting against Lebanon's Hezbollah, regardless of any Gaza truce. Gallant referred to the fight in Gaza and along the northern border as separate, saying Israel wouldn't be bound by actions regarding Gaza with actions by Hezbollah unless there was some different agreement made.
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