Netanyahu accused of ‘sacrificing the hostages’ after snubbing partial deal

Benjamin Netanyahu rejected backing a partial hostage deal with Hamas at a meeting of the government’s security cabinet, despite IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir backing negotiations.

During a six-hour gathering on Sunday, the prospect of a hostage deal did not feature on the agenda, with ministers instead asked to discuss the IDF’s preparations to take control of Gaza City and a response to the intentions of various countries, including the UK, to recognise a Palestinian state later this month.

Zamir’s attempt to push negotiations towards a hostage deal was given short shrift by Netanyahu, who reportedly said the framework to which Hamas had agreed was irrelevant and not on the table.

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The Hostages and Missing Families Forum responded to leaked detail of the meeting saying: “Netanyahu is sacrificing the hostages and soldiers on the altar of his political survival, while a concrete proposal sits on the table, approved by Hamas, which could become the framework of an agreement that would return the last hostage and end the war.”

Sources said Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock clashed with the IDF chief, attempting to brand him as a coward, but Zamir stressed his main goals were “preventing a nuclear Iran and destroying Hamas,” Haaretz reported.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir proposed holding a vote on the partial hostage deal in order to see it being defeated in a vote, but the Prime Minister said this was not necessary.

Meanwhile  Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz congratulated the IDF for the “flawless execution” in a post on X, after Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida was killed in an aerial attack in Gaza City.

Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, alias Abu Obeida, represented Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.

Israel’s military said the spokesperson had been behind the release of videos showing hostages as well as footage of the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war. The military also reiterated a threat against remaining Hamas leaders abroad.

Abu Obeida “was sent to meet all the eliminated members of the axis of evil from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen at the bottom of hell”, wrote Katz on X.

He warned that with the “intensification of the campaign in Gaza, many more of his criminal partners – Hamas murderers and rapists – will join him there”.