Netanyahu ready for 'temporary cease-fire' to release hostages

Israel is ready to accept a "temporary cease-fire" to release hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday night, while asserting that the army would control "the entire Gaza Strip" once the ongoing offensive in the Palestinian territory concludes.

This announcement, amid increased international pressure on Israel over its conduct in the Gaza war, came following an outcry on Wednesday over "warning shots" fired by the Israeli army during a visit by foreign diplomats organized by the Palestinian Authority in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

During a press conference Wednesday night in Jerusalem, Netanyahu did not comment on the incident decried by the EU, the U.N. and several European countries. The Israeli army had previously explained that the international delegation had "strayed from the approved route" and that soldiers had "fired warning shots to deter them."

The Prime Minister, however, hinted at a possible pause in the large-scale offensive launched Saturday with the stated aim of freeing the hostages and annihilating Hamas.

"If there is an option for a temporary cease-fire, to release hostages, we will be ready," he declared, stating that 20 of the 58 hostages (including a soldier killed in 2014) still in Gaza are "certainly alive."

Reiterating his plan to take control of the entire Gaza Strip, he conceded that Israel must "avoid a humanitarian crisis" to maintain its freedom of action.

100 new aid trucks to Gaza

In the early evening, Israel announced the entry Wednesday into Gaza of 100 UN humanitarian aid trucks, having let 93 pass the day before and about 10 on Monday after more than two and a half months of total blockade of the Palestinian territory devastated by war.

"A hundred trucks belonging to the UN and the international community, carrying humanitarian aid, notably flour, baby food and medical supplies, were transferred today [Wednesday] to the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing," Cogat, a body of the Israeli Defense Ministry, said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced the suspension of its negotiations with Israel on a free trade agreement, and the European Union decided to review its association agreement with Israel, supported by 17 member states.

"External pressures will not deter Israel from its path to defend its existence and security," the Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted.

The Ministry deemed that the review of the association agreement reflected "a total misunderstanding of the complex reality that Israel is facing" and encouraged "Hamas to remain steadfast."

The unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Oct. 7, 2023, resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. 251 people had been abducted.

The Israeli retaliatory campaign has killed at least 53,592 in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Gaza Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the U.N.

The Israeli army intercepted a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to a military statement, after warning sirens sounded in areas of southern Israel.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported three dead in Israeli strikes on the south of the country, where Israel continues to regularly target Hezbollah despite a cease-fire in effect since November.