In bid to pressure PM, Gallant said considering announcing hostage deal within reach
Defense minister may say current proposal is last chance to bring hostages back alive, as IDF chief also reported to say deal needed as soon as possible
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is considering making a public declaration that Israel is “within reach” of a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, in order to add pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an agreement, according to a report Friday.
Channel 13 said Gallant believes that Hamas is interested in a deal, that the one on the table is not perfect but that the ground is ripe for an agreement.
If he does make a public declaration, Gallant could say the current proposal may be the last chance to bring hostages back alive, the report added.
Amid reports that the entire defense leadership is pressing for a deal, Netanyahu in recent weeks has made new demands regarding a continued Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor with Egypt and the creation of a mechanism for preventing armed Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza. These demands have slowed the talks, Arab and Israeli officials involved have told The Times of Israel.
Gallant has said in recent closed meetings that if a deal isn’t reached in the next two weeks, the abductees’ fate will be “sealed,” according to the Ynet.
According to the outlet, Gallant believes conditions have ripened for a deal with Hamas, but accuses Netanyahu of hindering progress in order to retain the support of far-right elements of the coalition.
Walla news reported Friday that during a security briefing Thursday night, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi urged Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal as soon as possible.
The meeting started at 11:30 p.m., and Netanyahu ended it early after 30 minutes, saying he was tired, Walla reported.
Mossad chief David Barnea told a security cabinet meeting Tuesday that young female hostages held by Hamas don’t have time to wait for a new hostage deal framework, according to unsourced leaks from the gathering that were widely reported by Hebrew media outlets Wednesday.
“It could take long weeks. The girls in captivity don’t have time to wait for changes in the proposal under discussion,” Barnea was quoted as saying in the closed-door meeting. It was not clear why Barnea focused specifically on the women.
Other cabinet members at the meeting backed the need for a swift agreement, the reports said.
At the same time, Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to bolt the alliance if Israel agrees to a deal they view as “a surrender” to Hamas as it will see Israel halt its campaign for a lengthy period and free top Palestinian security prisoners.
A Channel 12 poll Friday indicated that 66% of Israelis back reaching a hostage release deal based on the current proposal, while only 16% object and 18% are unsure.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday: “We’re inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line on getting an agreement that would produce a ceasefire, get the hostages home and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability.”
Blinken told the Aspen Security Forum Israel and Hamas had agreed on a framework for a deal that was laid out by US President Joe Biden in May and that they’re now working to resolve remaining issues.
This is something US officials have been asserting for the past week, but it’s unclear whether there has been a tangible improvement from where the sides were at the beginning of the month, when Hamas issued an updated hostage that drew optimism from Israel and mediating countries.
Then too, US officials said they were working on closing the gaps between the sides.
“The last 10 yards are often the hardest,” Blinken said in Aspen.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at the Forum that the “overriding focus” of next week’s meeting between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu will be the deal currently on the table.
“The President will focus his energy with Prime Minister Netanyahu on what it is going to take working together… and then the US working with the other mediators to get this deal done in the coming weeks,” Sullivan said.
“There are details to be worked through,” he acknowledged. “As you heard from Secretary Blinken earlier today, we believe there is an opportunity to get it done.
“We have our best opportunity now that we have had since the last brief hostage deal in November to get to an outcome. It is there for the taking,” he said. “The broad framework is well understood and broadly agreed. The real issue is can we work through the politics on both sides, the psychology on both sides and frankly, the practicalities of executing something as complex as a ceasefire in a circumstance like this.”
Israel’s May 27 proposal — published in full by The Times of Israel last week — does not specify the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing as locations where Israeli troops will be allowed to remain, and its wording does not set out a mechanism whereby armed gunmen would be prevented from returning to northern Gaza.
Channel 12 reported Thursday that the Israeli negotiating team conducting indirect talks with Hamas has been drawing up new clauses to take account of Netanyahu’s recently added demands, and will not resume talks until the changes have been approved by him.
According to Channel 12 news, negotiators intend to present the new clauses to Netanyahu and his senior ministerial colleagues, and once their approval is obtained, the changes will be conveyed to US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, before they are relayed to Hamas.
The premier in recent days has said, both privately and publicly, that a deal is close, but that further military pressure on Hamas was still required.
He was quoted by Channel 12 as having said that if Israel were to “hit [Hamas] harder military, we’ll be able to bring a deal to fruition. Hamas is starting to crack.”
He made similar comments Thursday afternoon when visiting troops in the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, where he told them that Israel’s control over the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Border Crossing was “critical” for the next stage of the war on Hamas.
“At the same time, the military pressure [IDF forces] are exerting right here, in Hamas’s throat, helps us to stand firm on our just demands, helps us promote the hostage deal — including our demand to release a maximum number of hostages in the first stage of the plan.”
The pressure, Netanyahu said, “does not delay a deal, it advances it.”
