Hostage’s mother: Netanyahu recalled Israeli negotiators from Doha, leaving my son behind in Gaza

The mother of hostage Matan Zangauker says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose to blow up hostage negotiations last month due to his personal political considerations at a point when a deal was on the brink of being signed.

“The public needs to know the truth: about a month ago, we were closer than ever to signing a deal. Just like the last agreement that the Israeli government blew up before it reached the second phase, this time too, Netanyahu calculated his political considerations and decided to blow it up,” Einav Zangauker says in a statement to reporters after leaving a briefing for hostage families on the status of efforts to release their loved ones at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

“While the negotiation teams returned to their homes, my Matan and other hostages were left behind,” she laments, adding that Netanyahu continues to set “impossible conditions” that prevent a deal from being reached.

Netanyahu announced the recalling of Israel’s negotiators last month only after US special envoy Steve Witkoff did the same, rejecting the latest response issued by Hamas, which added new conditions for a deal.

Arab diplomats at the time acknowledged to The Times of Israel that Hamas’s response took the sides backward in talks. However, they argued that the gaps between the sides were still bridgeable and were surprised by the US and Israeli decisions to blow up the talks.

Over the past week, Egypt and Qatar worked to coax Hamas into accepting a proposal that is almost identical to the one that was being discussed in Doha before the talks collapsed.

The Arab mediators are now waiting for Israel’s response to the proposal, though, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has indicated it is no longer interested in a phased release of Israel’s hostages as envisioned by the deal on the table.