Gaza talks to focus on releasing all hostages in one go, Netanyahu hints
After indirect talks between Israel and Hamas broke down last month, Israel announced a controversial plan to widen its military offensive and conquer all the Gaza Strip - including the areas where most of its two million Palestinian residents have sought refuge.However, Israeli media do not expect the new operation to begin until October - allowing time for military preparations, including a mass call-up of reservists.In the meantime, witnesses say that Israel has stepped up its attacks on Gaza City with intense air strikes in the past day, destroying homes.Early on Wednesday, al-Shifa Hospital said seven members of one family, five of them children, were killed when tents were targeted in Tel al-Hawa. Al-Ahli Hospital said 10 people were killed in a strike on a house in the Zaytoun area.The Israeli military chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir also "approved the main framework for the IDF's operational plan in the Gaza Strip", a statement released by the army said.
In an interview with the i24 Israeli TV Channel shown on Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked if a partial ceasefire was still possible."I think it's behind us," he replied. "We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we went through a lot, but it turned out that they were just misleading us.""I want all of them," he said of the hostages. "The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead - that's the stage we're at."Palestinian armed groups still hold 50 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war. Israel believes that around 20 of them are still alive.Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to secure their release as well as over his plans to expand the war.Last week, unnamed Arab officials were quoted as saying that regional mediators, Egypt and Qatar, were preparing a new framework for a deal that would involve releasing all remaining hostages at the same time in return for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.However, this will be difficult to do in a short time frame as Israel is demanding that Hamas give up control of Gaza as well as its weapons.This is likely to be why, at a news conference on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told journalists that Cairo was still "making great efforts" with Qatar and the US - the other mediators - to revive the earlier phased plan."The main goal is to return to the original proposal - a 60-day ceasefire - along with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian prisoners, and the flow of humanitarian and medical aid into Gaza without obstacles or conditions," Abdelatty said.The Israeli prime minister says Israel's goals have not changed. He says that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas surrenders. Netanyahu has said that, ultimately, Israel must keep open-ended security control over Gaza.
Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal to exchange the hostages it is holding for Palestinian prisoners in Israel jails. It also wants a full pull-out of Israeli forces and an end to the war. It refuses to disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is created.Speaking to i24, Netanyahu also reiterated an idea that Palestinians should simply leave the territory through "voluntary" emigration, saying: "They're not being pushed out, they'll be allowed to exit." He went on: "All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us."Palestinians, human rights groups and many in the international community have warned that any forced displacement of people from Gaza violates international law.Many Palestinians fear a repeat of what they call the "Nakba" (Catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced from their homes in the fighting that came before and after the state of Israel was created in 1948. Most Gazans are descendants of those original refugees and themselves hold official refugee status.UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has greatly limited the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.The UN's World Food Programme has warned that starvation and malnutrition are at the highest levels in Gaza since the conflict began.Hamas's 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with 251 taken into Gaza as hostages.Israel's offensive has since killed at least 61,722 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It says that 235 people including 106 children have also died due to starvation and malnutrition.
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Spectator
30 minutes ago
- Spectator
Hamas is using Israel's protests as a weapon of war
Israel is caught in a tragic paradox: the finest qualities that define its national character – its compassion, solidarity, and moral responsibility – are exploited by adversaries who recognise in these virtues not strength, but vulnerability. As over half a million Israelis joined a nationwide strike yesterday, demanding a ceasefire and the return of hostages from Gaza, it was impossible not to be moved by the depth of feeling, the urgency of the appeals, and the sheer moral weight of the demand. Yet what moves one side to tears hardens the heart of the other, moving them to ruthless calculation. The protests are genuine, justified, and born of unbearable grief, but to Hamas they are confirmation that its strategy is working. For nearly 700 days, hostages have languished in tunnels beneath Gaza, held by a group that has no humanitarian interest in their fate. The Israeli families who protest for their return are not protesting because they are weak, but because they care. That is the unbearable truth of the dilemma: love, in the hands of a cynical enemy, becomes a lever. And over and over again, when Israel shows signs of internal dissent, Hamas hardens its position. In November 2023, May 2024, and again in early 2025, the group escalated its demands or walked away from negotiations whenever it sensed either international pressure on Israel or domestic fracture within it. Each protest, each demonstration, is interpreted not as a plea to save the hostages but as a signal to Hamas that it need not concede. The more Israelis protest, the more its enemies are taught to take hostages in future. That this distortion exists is not a reason to suppress protest, but it is a reason to understand its consequences. In a different world, the moral clarity of the protesters would move international actors to increase pressure on Hamas. In our world, the images feed into a narrative of Israeli weakness, not Hamas culpability. The tragic result is that a natural democratic process becomes, in enemy hands, a psychological weapon. That is not the fault of the protesters. But it is a risk to be managed. The Israeli government, meanwhile, has failed to manage that risk. Rather than embracing hostage families with empathy and unity, key ministers chose alienation and suspicion. Netanyahu accused them of helping Hamas. Finance Minister Smotrich claimed they were 'burying hostages in tunnels'. The rhetoric has been vicious, contemptuous, and politically self-destructive. By treating desperate families as political enemies, the government abandoned its most basic duty: to bind the nation together in a time of war. In doing so, it squandered the moral high ground without gaining any strategic advantage. And yet, the government is not wrong about Hamas. Hamas has no intention of returning the hostages simply out of pity or moral appeal. It never did. Its entire logic is predicated on holding leverage, preserving its arsenal, and remaining in power. That is why the core dilemma remains unresolved: Hamas will not release the hostages unless it can claim victory. But releasing them on such terms would strengthen Hamas, vindicate 7 October, and endanger Israel's future. This is the trap. And it is a trap with no obvious exit. The government cannot simply acquiesce to protesters' demands, not because it is heartless, but because no act of goodwill or political will can unilaterally extract hostages from Hamas tunnels. Even the most far-reaching Israeli concessions would not guarantee the return of all those still held. At best, they would secure partial releases under conditions amounting to a political defeat. At worst, they would signal capitulation while yielding nothing. Everyone understands this, including, deep down, the protesters. The demonstrations are not naïve demands for the impossible. 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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Israel protests erupt nationwide to demand end of Gaza war
Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv amid a nationwide strike in support of the families of hostages held in Gaza. Demonstrations around the country called on Israel's government to reach an agreement with Hamas to release the remaining captives. The Tel Aviv protest is one of the largest in Israel since fighting began in October 2023. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the protesters, saying their actions 'ensure that the horrors of 7 October will reoccur'
North Wales Chronicle
6 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Israel's growing frustration over war in Gaza erupts in nationwide protests
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