Tel Aviv
–
Almost a week after Hamas accepted the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal from Qatar and Egyptian mediators, Israel has yet to respond – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that it is “quickly” starting negotiations to free all hostages and end the war.
The silence reflects a fundamental shift in Israel’s approach that has baffled the remaining hostage families and families who accused Netanyahu of abandoning and sacrificing their loved ones.
After agreeing only to a partial, gradual ceasefire deal for 18 months, Netanyahu is now calling for a comprehensive agreement to secure the release of all hostages and end the war on Israeli terms in full. The policy reversal comes when the Prime Minister simultaneously accelerates his plans for a massive military attack in Gaza city and pursues a dual strategy of negotiations while engaging in war to “fall over Hamas.”
On Thursday, Netanyahu declared that he had instructed his team to immediately begin negotiations for the return of all hostages and end the war in Gaza. But he did so now without mentioning the proposal on the table. This calls for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for half the hostage release. The latest proposal is similar to the 60-day ceasefire agreed last month, only in terms of more favorable to Israel after Hamas showed flexibility in the number of prisoners to be released and the size of security perimeters.
At the same time, Netanyahu emphasized that he would continue to advance the Israeli Defence Forces’ plans (IDF) on a massive attack and acquisition of Gaza city. Israel says Hamas’ concessions stem from the threat of an imminent attack on Gaza, and Israeli officials believe that a new threat of heavy military pressure will make Hamas more flexible to accept Israeli conditions.
Israel has long argued that military pressure would push Hamas up to the table, but terrorist groups have denied defeat despite nearly two years of fighting.
Netanyahu does not explain what caused this dramatic change from this partial replacement to a comprehensive negotiation framework. His mixed message has confused many people in Israel and abroad. The government refused to discuss the end of the war and agreed to negotiate a gradual and partial ceasefire agreement. Currently, he has only chosen comprehensive deals and has been reluctant to respond to the latest proposals of the mediators that Hamas has accepted.
Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas Political Bureau, said in a statement: Naim said Netanyahu has a “green light” from the Trump administration.
According to senior Israeli sources, the answer to Netanyahu’s new negotiation strategy lies in Washington, not Jerusalem. In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has expressed his explicit public support for Israel’s new assault in Gaza, and has adopted Israeli rhetoric with the aim of destroying Hamas, instead of pushing for a temporary ceasefire.
“We can see the rest of the hostages return when Hamas faces and is destroyed!!! The more this happens, the better your chances of success.”
According to senior Israeli sources, after Hamas raised obstacles during its final negotiations in Qatar in July, Trump “losts patience and trust in the partial process and doesn’t think Hamas actually wants to trade.”
The echo says that after the latest speech collapses, his envoy Steve Witkov has collapsed, accusing Hamas of not being coordinated, and that he has not acted in good faith, and that the US will explore alternative options to ensure hostage release and stabilize Gaza.
“It’s so bad. Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. They want to die,” Trump told reporters outside the White House at the time. Shortly after the comment, Netanyahu’s office moved on to a “all or nothing” approach, demanding a comprehensive deal.
At the latest Israeli Security Cabinet meeting, which approved the Netanyahu government’s decision to expand and deepen its operations in Gaza, five conditions were set to end the war. It is not the disarmament of Hamas, the release of all hostages, the demilitarization of Gaza while maintaining Israel’s security controls, and the establishment of Ham-no-Ham-no-Palestonian authority.
But Hamas draws a red line with the concept of disarming. According to Israeli analysts, Netanyahu’s double recall – pursuing war and peace is a political tactic to buy time. It extends the war and his own rules.
“Netanyahu is fully aware that Hamas will never accept his terms to end the war, and that’s exactly what he is saying,” Chime Levinson, a senior diplomatic commentator at the Israeli Harletz newspaper, told CNN. Netanyahu’s demand for territorial control over Gaza’s massive Swas “is likely to derail the potential agreement.”
Netanyahu called for full Israeli security control over Gaza in a postwar scenario, a scenario in which Israel reserves the right to carry out a strike in Gaza. “Under these conditions, no one will invest in Gaza as the territory remains trapped in a state of ongoing conflict,” Levinson said.
Repeated polls have shown that the majority of Israeli people support all deals that will bring back hostages – Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners Itamaru Ben Gwil and Bezalel Smotrich warned that they could be opposed to ceasefires and warfares, which could lead to the collapse of his government.
Because of that obvious threat, all previous hostage trades were designed as incremental and progressive, according to Israeli sources with knowledge of negotiations. A partial approach allowed Netanyahu to promise his allied partners that Israel would eventually resume the war.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies are pressing Israeli leaders to expand the war and to intensify the bombardment of the devastated enclave until Hamas surrenders.
Matthew Miller, a former State Department spokesman, said the Biden administration believes Netanyahu is shaking obstacles to the ceasefire agreement. “We wanted to make it public and make it clear that the Prime Minister thought it was totally condemned and difficult to make a deal,” he told Israeli Channel 13.
The perceived dual message of the Prime Minister’s latest maneuvering escalated tensions between his government and the rest of the hostage families in Gaza. Families, who have been increasing public pressure since the Cabinet approved the attack on Gaza City, have accused the government of sacrificing hostages by delaying or rejecting partial agreements at the table.
Hostage families are scheduled another protest Tuesday night after Israel launched its biggest anti-war protest since the start of the conflict nearly two years ago, trying to maintain pressure on the government where they find deaf to their cry of pain.
Einav Zangarkar, Matan’s mother, who is being held hostage in Gaza, has accused Netanyahu of a torpedo in negotiations. “You will set unattainable conditions to end the war and lead soldiers to a death trap as the army prepares to conquer Gaza,” she said at a demonstration outside the prime minister’s settlement on Friday night. “You will put Matan to death, you will disappear forever!”
In an attempt to dispel public criticism, Netanyahu’s office explained to Israeli reporters over the weekend that it would send a negotiation team as soon as a meeting place was set up.
However, if there is no site selected for the next attempt at ceasefire negotiations, and as the US team is tied up with Ukraine and Russia, Netanyahu can pursue his dual strategy.
