US Proposes Ceasefire In Gaza During Ramadan And Passover

JAKARTA - The United States proposed a new temporary ceasefire plan in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, during the month of Ramadan and the Passover celebration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israel will accept US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's plans for a temporary ceasefire during the Ramadan and Passover periods, the Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said in a statement as reported by RIA Novosti from Tel Aviv, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, March 2.

Israel's stance on the new US plan was taken after a security discussion chaired by PM Netanyahu and attended by defense ministers, senior Defense Ministry officials, and a negotiating team following the end of the 42-day Gaza ceasefire.

Ramadan 1446 Hijri starts on February 28 and ends on March 29, while Jewish Passover will be celebrated from April 12 to 19.

The new US-proposed ceasefire plans to call for the release of half of Israeli hostages, both alive and dead, from Gaza on the first day of its implementation, and if a permanent ceasefire agreement is reached, all remaining kidnapping victims, both alive and dead, will be released.

"Witkoff put forward this plan to extend the ceasefire after he concluded that at this stage it is impossible to address the differences between the two sides to end the war and that additional time is needed to negotiate a permanent ceasefire," said PM Netanyahu's office.

The Israeli PM's office stressed that Tel Aviv had agreed with a new US plan for the return of the kidnapping victim, while the Palestinian independence struggle movement Hamas still had not accepted the plan.

"If Hamas changes its position, Israel will immediately negotiate all details of Witkoff's plans," the Israeli PM's office said.

The new plan also contains points of US approval that Israel could continue hostilities after 42 days if deemed negotiations for the permanent ceasefire ineffective, PM Netanyahu's office added.