Defense sources say hostages’ dire condition should come as no surprise to Netanyahu

Senior officials in the defense establishment reportedly denounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he expressed outrage and threatened Hamas over the emaciated condition of the three hostages freed today.

“What did he expect?” Channel 12 quotes one source saying. “It should have come as no surprise to him. The prime minister is familiar with the intelligence material and the medical opinions. The more time that passes, the more the releases are going to become difficult in terms of the hostages’ appearance. [His comments] are aimed at his political base, because these are pictures [of the gaunt, weak hostages] that harm him politically, but there’s nothing substantive behind them.”

In response, an unnamed source close to Netanyahu says Israel was not previously aware that Hamas was deliberately starving the hostages.

Channel 12 news also quotes a senior Israeli source saying that the delegation Netanyahu is sending to hostage talks in Qatar “has no real mandate. [Trump’s envoy Steve] Witkoff asked that a delegation be sent and Netanyahu is doing so, in part to avoid giving Hamas reasons to blow up the deal.” The source stressed that “because of the condition of the hostages, there is not a second to waste.”

Senior figures in the defense establishment have for months criticized Netanyahu for ostensibly slowing and complicating efforts to free the hostages because he fears far-right elements in his coalition will bring it down.