‘You’ve betrayed us’: Mother of hostage accuses Netanyahu of torpedoing ceasefire deal

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza gather outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv for their weekly press conference, demanding that the government close a deal to free their loved ones.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker has been held hostage in Gaza for over a year, decries what she calls a campaign “to paint the families [of Hamas hostages] as enemies and stall a [hostage-ceasefire] deal.”

Her comments come after a judge revealed yesterday that several suspects have been arrested in connection with an ongoing probe into the alleged leak of classified documents from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office that harmed efforts to secure a hostage deal.

“This is a knife in the back of the people,” she says during the press conference.

Addressing Netanyahu, she says, “You have betrayed the hostages. You have betrayed us. You have deliberately sabotaged the goals of the war, and you’ve lost the last scraps of mandate you had to manage the negotiations for a deal.”

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עינב צנגאוקר בהתייחסות לפרשה שעדיין אסורה לפרסום:

״השלטון מבצע תודעה שקרי ואכזרי נגד עסקת חטופים ונגד המשפחות. מבצע הונאה ציני שלקוח ממשטרים אפלים במטרה לסיים את המשפחות כאויב ולתקוע את העסקה. זהו סכין בגב העם.״ pic.twitter.com/drl0PdirnF

— ????️????????חגית קלימן – Hagit Klaiman????????????️ (@klaiman14) November 2, 2024

Netanyahu, who has been accused of torpedoing possible hostage deals for political reasons, has vowed that Israel will keep fighting in Gaza until it achieves total victory.

Negotiations for a hostage deal were renewed in recent weeks after Israel killed Hamas chief Sinwar in mid-October. Mossad chief David Barnea held discussions with mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States in Doha this week, and further talks are slated to be held in Egypt.

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.