From the Liveblog of
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Gantz says Western nations’ anti-Israel rhetoric harming chances for hostage deal
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"
Blue and White-National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz accuses the foreign ministers of multiple nations of harming the chances of reaching a hostage deal, after they condemned Israel’s decision to launch an operation to take over Gaza City.
“Actions like unilateral illusionary Palestinian recognition, weapon sanctions & critical letters of Israel are harming the prospects of securing a hostage deal,” Gantz writes in an English-language post on X.
“Not only do they inadvertently reward terror and harden Hamas’ position — they are prolonging the war. As an Israeli opposition leader, let me say this very clearly — instead of pressuring Israel, the west should focus on putting an end to Hamas leadership’s impunity abroad.”
Gantz’s statement comes in response to a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs in which they “strongly reject the decision of the Israeli Security Cabinet on 8th August to launch an additional large-scale military operation in Gaza.”
Such an operation “will aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians,” they wrote, adding that Israel’s plans “risk violating international humanitarian law.”
The Times of Israel Community.