Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted, as an emergency, a meeting which was devoted, Sunday evening, to the initiatives taken in favor of the release of hostages held in Gaza. A meeting held in the presence of a select group of ministers and senior security officials – the latter, it seems, had planned to tell political leaders that accepting a ceasefire fire in the war in Gaza was the only way to reach an agreement opening the door to the release of the captives.
Present during this meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Defense Ministry, Kirya, in Tel Aviv, were the head of the Shin Bet security agency, Ronen Bar; the chief of staff of the Israeli army, General Herzi Halevi, the director of the Mossad, David Barnea, and the official responsible for the hostage question within the IDF, reservist Major General Nitzan Alon. All planned to tell the ministers that Hamas still demanded an end to the war and the withdrawal of the army from the Gaza Strip, even after the death of the terrorist group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by soldiers on last month, according to sources who spoke, on condition of anonymity, to several Israeli media.
Security chiefs wanted to make it clear that accepting these demands would be the only way to guarantee the finalization of an agreement, according to the same sources.
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A senior defense official told Channel 13 that Barnea was preparing to present new options, taking into account Hamas’ positions, with the aim of reaching an agreement – without giving further details. The terrorist group has rejected, in recent weeks, proposals for a short-term arrangement that would have allowed the captives to be repatriated to Israeli soil.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reportedly took part at Sunday’s meeting.
The meeting was held in the wake of an assessment on the hostage issue that took place the same day, in the presence of Katz and defense officials, according to the Defense Minister’s Office. The Shin Bet also announced on Sunday that Bar, Halevi, Barnea and Alon had met to discuss in depth “the efforts made to ensure the return of the hostages.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz meeting with security chiefs to discuss hostages held in Gaza, November 17, 2023. (Ariel Hermoni/Ministry of Defense)
News channel N12 reported that security chiefs presented Katz with a grim picture of the situation of the captives, who have been in the terrorist group’s jails for more than 400 days now.
Last week, the health unit within the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons assessed that the hostages still detained had lost half their weight due to lack of food, reducing their chances of survival during the winter.
Negotiations aimed at freeing the hostages and concluding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have been deadlocked for several months, with no apparent prospect of a real resumption of talks.
Polls have found that a large majority of Israelis support reaching a deal with Hamas that would pave the way for the captives to be repatriated, and Netanyahu’s critics have castigated the prime minister for seeking to continue the war for ensure the survival of its right-wing coalition – which includes far-right elements who want to continue the fighting and who want to reestablish an Israeli presence in northern Gaza. The prime minister’s opponents say Netanyahu is more concerned about maintaining his coalition than state security and is deliberately preventing a deal from being finalized.
Netanyahu was recorded last month telling Likud lawmakers that Israel could not accept Hamas’ demand for a permanent end to the war in exchange for the hostages. He seemed to say he was concerned that such a deal would allow Hamas to remain in Gaza in one form or another.
97 of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 are believed to still be in Gaza – including the bodies of at least 34 people whose deaths have been confirmed by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a week-long truce at the end of November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages were rescued alive by troops. The remains of 37 hostages were also found – including three who had been accidentally killed by the army while trying to escape their captors.
Hamas also holds two Israeli civilians who voluntarily entered the Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two Israeli army soldiers who were killed in 2014.
