Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pushed back a new wave of pressure to reach a ceasefire in Gaza after hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested and went on strike and the President of the United States Joe Biden said he needed to do more after nearly 11 months of fighting.
In his first public speech since Sunday’s mass protests, he revealed the angry reaction of many Israelis to the discovery. six more hostages diedNetanyahu said he would continue to press for a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in the talks — Israel’s continued control of the Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt where Israel says Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza. Egypt and Hamas deny this.
Netanyahu called the corridor vital to ensuring Hamas cannot rearm through the tunnels. “This is Hamas’ oxygen,” he said.
And he added: “No one is more dedicated to rescuing hostages than I am. But no one wants to lecture me.”
Israelis took to the streets late Sunday in grief and anger in what appeared to be the largest protest since the war began. Families and much of the public blamed Netanyahu, saying the hostages could be returned alive in a deal with Hamas. A rare general strike was held across the country on Monday.
But others support Netanyahu’s efforts to continue the campaign in Gaza, which is being fueled by Hamas. The October 7 Attack into Israel and has caused massive death and destruction in the territory. Netanyahu said the attack would force the militants to give in to Israel’s demands, potentially facilitating rescue operations and ultimately destroying the group.
America’s key ally is showing impatience. Biden spoke to reporters as he arrived at the White House for a Situation Room meeting with the US mediator team in the talks. Asked if Netanyahu had done enough, Biden replied, “No.”
He stressed that negotiators remained “very close” to a deal, adding that “hope always exists”.
Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out months of negotiations by making new demands, including permanent Israeli control of the Philadelphia corridor and a second corridor running through Gaza. Hamas has offered to release all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants — broadly the terms outlined in a draft deal Biden presented in July.
Netanyahu has pledged “total victory” over Hamas and blamed Hamas for the failure of the talks. On Monday, he said he was ready to implement the first phase of a ceasefire — a plan that includes releasing some hostages, a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops and the release of some prisoners held by Israel. But he rejected Hamas’ main demand for a complete withdrawal from Gaza and said he did not see any party other than Israel capable of protecting Gaza’s borders and preventing arms smuggling.
Israeli media reported deep disagreements between Netanyahu and senior security officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said it was time for a ceasefire.
An official confirmed the spat between Gallant and Netanyahu at a security cabinet meeting on Thursday, where Netanyahu voted in favor of maintaining control of the Philadelphia corridor.
Gallant was the lone vote against the motion, saying Netanyahu favored border agreements over the lives of the hostages. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting. Gallant called on the security cabinet to overturn the decision on Sunday.
Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas official leading the talks, told Qatari television channel Al Jazeera late Sunday that Netanyahu considered holding the Philadelphia corridor “more important” than rescuing the hostages.
Al-Hayya also said Hamas had offered “great flexibility”, including reducing its demand for the release of 500 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for each captured Israeli soldier to 50, and from 250 Palestinian prisoners or each Israeli civilian hostage to 30. He accused Israel of imposing new conditions including increasing the number of prisoners who would be deported upon release and prohibiting the release of elderly or infirm prisoners serving life sentences.
Israel says six hostages found dead in Gaza were killed by Hamas shortly before Israeli forces reached the tunnel where they were being held. Israel’s health ministry said autopsies determined the hostages were shot at close range and died on Thursday or Friday.
Three people were among those who would be released in the first phase of a ceasefire proposal outlined by Biden in July, sources said.
Thousands of people attended a funeral on Monday for one of the six, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He was one of the most famous hostages, with his parents leading a high-profile campaign to free those held captive, meeting with Biden and Pope Francis and speaking at the Democratic National Convention last month.
A general strike called by Israel’s largest union, the Histadrut, ended early after a labor court accepted a government petition calling it politically motivated.
It was the first such attack since the war began, aimed at shutting down or disrupting key sectors of the economy, including banking and health care. Several flights at Israel’s main international airport, Ben-Gurion, departed early or were slightly delayed.
“There is no need to punish the entire state of Israel for what is happening, overall this is a victory for Hamas,” said a passenger named Amrani Yigal.
But in Jerusalem, resident Avi Lavi said, “I think it’s only fair, it’s time to stand up and wake up, to do everything so that the hostages can return safely.”
Cities in Israel’s densely populated central region, including Tel Aviv, have joined. Others, including Jerusalem, have not.
About 250 hostages were taken on October 7. More than 100 people have been rescued. in a ceasefire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians held by Israel. Eight were rescued by Israeli forces. Israeli forces accidentally killed three Israelis who escaped from captivity in December.
About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, when they attacked southern Israel on October 7. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, but did not say how many were militants.
The war has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times, and plunged the besieged territory into a humanitarian disaster, including fresh fears of a polio outbreak.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its six-day assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. AP reporters saw bulldozers tearing up roads. The Palestinian Red Crescent, which has an ambulance crew operating in Jenin, said Israeli forces blocked its ambulances from reaching the wounded.
Palestinians in a town outside Jenin held a funeral for a 58-year-old man, Ayman Abed, who was arrested the previous day and died in Israeli custody. The Israeli military said he died of a “heart attack,” but provided no further details. Human rights groups have reported mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli custody, and the military has confirmed the deaths of at least 36 Palestinians in its detention centers since October.
Israel said it killed 14 militants in Jenin, captured 25 and defused explosives buried under the road. Palestinian health officials said at least 29 people were killed, including five children.
Mohannad Hajj Hussein, a Jenin resident, said electricity and water had been cut off. “We are ready to live by candlelight and we will feed our children with our own bodies and teach them to resist and be steadfast on this land,” he said. “We will rebuild what the occupation has destroyed and we will not kneel.”
