The Government of Israel has turned down a US-brokered one-week "humanitarian" two-step cease fire proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Above: John Kerry
Israel Reportedly Rejects US-Brokered Cease Fire That It Says Rewards Hamas Terror
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israel's cabinet unanimously turned down a US-brokered one-week "humanitarian" cease fire proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry and is reportedly working on modifying the proposal to better suit Israel's security needs.
The cabinet also reportedly claimed that Kerry's proposed cease fire as now structured rewards Hamas terrorism, CNN reported.
Kerry spoke publicly a few moments ago about Gaza's suffering, Israelis' life under constant threat of rocket fire, and the need to achieve a cease fire.
But Kerry has not yet publicly specified what the details are of his proposed cease fire rejected by Israel.
Israel appears to be determined to find and destroy the remaining Hamas terror tunnels into Israel from Gaza and as muich of Hamas' rocket and missile stocks as possible.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa and the airlines it owns and Air France are resuming flights to and from Israel they had temporarily stopped three days ago.
Update 2:42 pm CDT – Kerry said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a "down payment" of a 12-hour pause in Gaza, Ha'aretz reported.
Kerry also reportedly said all parties are "working towards a brief, seven-day humanitarian cease-fire to try to create a more durable, sustainable cease-fire," but the parties "still have some terminology in the context of the framework to work through." He added that Israel's cabinet "may have rejected some language on a potential truce," but Israel never formally rejected the cease fire proposal since it was never officially offered to Israel to accept.
Also, Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told soldiers tonight to "be prepared for the possibility that IDF will be ordered to expand Gaza ground operation very soon."