Families of Israeli hostages and activists demand one-time deal, accusing PM Netanyahu of delay

Unyielding pressure from the public to bring the hostages home continues in Israel, with protesters demanding an all-or-nothing deal. 

Crowds gathered in different locations in Tel Aviv on Saturday for the protest, adamantly refusing to accept any compromise on a one-time deal that would return all the hostages, who have now been held in captivity by terrorists in the Gaza Strip for over a year.

Noam Idan Ben Ezra, brother of hostage Tsahi Idan from Kibbutz Nahal Oz said a deal must be secured for all the hostages at once, insisting it should be “everyone now, not in trickles and not in phases – Tsahi and all the hostages.”

Two potential deals have been on the table, one from Egypt, proposing the release of four hostages during a two-day ceasefire, and another Qatari-American proposal involving a multi-stage release of all the hostages in exchange for the end of the war.

Hamas leaders have refused the proposals, demanding an upfront commitment to an end of the war and a complete withdrawal of military troops from the Gaza Strip, a stipulation the Israeli government has refused to agree to. However, those campaigning on behalf of the hostages assert that the goals of the war have been accomplished and that there is no need to continue military operations in Gaza.

“The hostages’ release requires an end to the war… The army has already won,” Ben Ezra insisted. “Now it’s the political echelon’s turn.” 

Accusations that the government deliberately added unnecessary requirements that scuppered previous deals are rife, and suspicions have been further raised following reports of a leak from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. 

In July, the condition of maintaining Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, alongside the Egyptian border with Gaza, was added to a hostage deal – which subsequently failed. However, the Hamas note cited by Netanyahu to justify the additional demand has since been found to be misrepresented, as it was classified information and did not contain orders from now-deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The debacle has led to an open investigation by Shin Bet (Israel's security agency), Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces to examine what Judge Menachem Mizrahi called a potential “breach of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information.”

Mizrahi said the leak constituted a risk of “sensitive information and intelligence sources,” negatively impacting “the goals of the war in the Gaza Strip.”

He added, “Several suspects were arrested for questioning, and the investigation is ongoing.”

Compounding these concerns about the government’s apparent stalling of a deal for political purposes is a new report saying that only half of the remaining hostages are still alive. New intelligence assessments estimate that dozens have died over the last year in captivity, according to the report in Israel Hayom on Sunday.

Ronen Neutra, whose son Omer is being held in Gaza, said, “There is no time for a multi-stage deal and no use for it.”