From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Gantz accuses Netanyahu of ‘sabotaging’ hostage deal negotiations with Hamas
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “sabotaging” hostage deal negotiations with Hamas.
Israel is currently in the middle of a “sensitive” period but “Netanyahu is once again running to the foreign media and talking,” Gantz says, predicting that “once again a ‘political figure’ will be briefing [reporters] at the end of the week.”
“Netanyahu, you do not have a mandate to thwart the return of our hostages again for political reasons,” Gantz continues, calling a deal the right thing to do on humanitarian and national security grounds.
“And one more thing,” Gantz concludes, “you said in the Wall Street Journal that Hamas should not rule Gaza because it is 30 miles from Tel Aviv. So let me remind you: Hamas should not rule Gaza because it is two kilometers from Nir Oz and Be’eri, and four kilometers from Sderot. Their security must be restored, and the hostages who were taken from their beds there must be returned.”
Gantz’s comments come after Netanyahu told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published yesterday that he was “not going to agree to end the war before we remove Hamas.”
Hamas had long asserted that it would not agree to a ceasefire and hostage release without an Israeli commitment to end the war. Recent reports have indicated it may have softened its position to allow the release of a limited release of hostages in an initial phase without such a commitment, though it would likely hold on to the majority of the hostages until the final phase of a deal, when a permanent cessation of hostilities is agreed upon.
The Times of Israel Community.