Netanyahu denies possible cease-fire deal to end war in Gaza

JENIN, West Bank — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at an event Tuesday in the West Bank, denied reports of a possible cease-fire deal to end the war in Gaza and repeated his vow to keep fighting until “absolute victory” over Hamas.

“We will not end this war without achieving all of our goals,” said Netanyahu, who is under mounting pressure from families of the hostages and the wider public to reach a deal. “We will not withdraw the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists,” he said.

On Tuesday, Hamas’ top political leader Ismail Haniyeh said the group was studying the latest terms for a deal, but that the priority was the “full withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza and that any agreement should lead to a long-term cease-fire.

He said Hamas’ leadership had been invited to Cairo to continue talks. The terrorist group, which has reached lopsided exchange deals with Israel in the past, is expected to demand the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile terrorists, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Qatar and Egypt, which mediate with Hamas, have held talks with Israel and the United States in recent days. U.S. officials said negotiators had made progress toward a deal, including the phased release of the remaining hostages over a two-month period and the entry of more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The war in Gaza began when hundreds of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Over 100 were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 26,700 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. The ministry count does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

The war has leveled vast swaths of the tiny coastal enclave and displaced 85 percent of its population. The U.N. has warned of a further deterioration after several countries, including the United States, froze funding to the main aid provider in Gaza following Israeli claims that a dozen of its workers participated in the Oct. 7 terrrorist attack.

Hospitals have become battlegrounds

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli forces disguised as civilian women and medics stormed a hospital, killing three Palestinian terrorists.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces opened fire inside the Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank town of Jenin. A hospital spokesperson said there was no exchange of fire, indicating it was a targeted killing.

Israel’s military said the terrorists were using the hospital as a hideout. It alleged that one of those targeted had transferred weapons and ammunition to others for a planned attack, purportedly inspired by the Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Security camera footage from the hospital shows about a dozen undercover forces, most of them armed, wearing Muslim headscarves, hospital scrubs or white doctor’s coats. One carried a rifle in one arm and a folded wheelchair in the other.

Israel has come under criticism for its raids on hospitals in Gaza.

Israel says terrorists use hospitals as cover. The military says it has found underground tunnels in the vicinity of hospitals and located weapons and vehicles used in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on hospital grounds.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces raided the Al-Amal Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said that its forces were operating in the area of the hospital but not inside it.

West bank crackdown

Violence in the West Bank has surged since Oct. 7, as Israel has cracked down on suspected terrorists, killing more than 380 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The military said that in Tuesday’s hospital raid, forces killed Mohammed Jalamneh, 27, who it said was planning an imminent attack. The two other men killed, brothers Basel and Mohammed Ghazawi, were hiding inside the hospital and were involved in attacks, the military said.

The military did not provide details on how the three were killed. Its statement said Jalamneh was armed with a pistol but made no mention of an exchange of fire.

Hamas claimed the three men as members, calling the operation “a cowardly assassination.”

Hospital spokesperson Tawfiq al-Shobaki said there was no exchange of fire, and that Basel Ghazawi had been a patient since October, with partial paralysis.

Lidman reported from Jerusalem and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed reporting from Beirut.