Senior Arab diplomat from mediating country: PM chose politics over continued ceasefire

A senior Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries tells The Times of Israel that “political considerations” are what led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the ceasefire with Hamas.

The diplomat declines to elaborate, but says, “even many Israelis see what’s going on,” an apparent reference to the protests against the government taking place around the country tonight.

The two Arab mediating countries — Egypt and Qatar — have already come out against Israel for resuming the war last night, breaking with the other mediator, the United States, which blamed Hamas for the breakdown of the truce.

Critics of Netanyahu accuse him of refusing to abide by the hostage deal he signed in January in order to remain in power, given that his far-right coalition partners have threatened to collapse the government if Israel did not resume fighting.

Netanyahu argues that he had been willing to extend the ceasefire but Hamas refused repeated hostage deal offers that would have allowed for the truce to continue.

Hamas maintains that it will only release hostages through the phase two framework of the January deal, which requires a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. That framework was put forward by Netanyahu himself last spring.