The fierce exchange was directed at Netanyahu, whose office said on Friday it “approved” the text of the three-phase agreement announced by President Biden on Friday. But on Saturday it added that “Israel’s conditions for ending the war remain unchanged,” and that any agreement that does not condition a permanent cease-fire on the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities “does not stand.”
The proposals include a six-week halt to fighting to exchange hostages held by Hamas for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as well as a significant increase in aid to the Gaza Strip. At least 36,439 people have been killed and 82,627 wounded in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that Hamas’ October 7 attack killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including 253 hostages. The ministry says 293 soldiers have been killed since the start of military operations in Gaza.
Hamas said on Friday it received Biden’s speech on the agreement “positively” and “expresses its position that it is ready to respond positively and constructively to any proposals based on a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of displaced persons to all their homes, and the conclusion of a full-fledged prisoner exchange agreement.”
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Biden’s televised address was delivered after sunset on Friday, but some far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition were observing the Jewish Sabbath, refraining from work and using their mobile phones during that time.
After the Sabbath ended on Saturday night, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tweeted that the deal was “not an absolute victory, but rather an absolute defeat.” He said his party would “dismantle the government” if Netanyahu went ahead with the deal.
Bezalel Smotrich, another ultra-nationalist in Netanyahu’s coalition government, tweeted that Netanyahu had told him he would also quit the government if a deal was reached.
“We demand that the fight continue until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are returned, the creation of a totally different security reality in Gaza and Lebanon, the return of all residents of the north and south to their homes, and huge investments to accelerate the development of these parts of the country,” he said.
For weeks, Netanyahu has faced conflicting pressure from moderate members of his war cabinet, who have been pushing for the deal, and less influential but more hardline members of his coalition and support base, who have continually touted “absolute victory” in Gaza.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government would not necessarily collapse without Ben Gvir and Smotrich, and was ready to provide a “safety net” to ensure a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages could be reached.
“The threat from Ben Gvir and Smotrich [an act of] “A government that has abandoned national security, the hostages and the people of the North and South,” Lapid tweeted Saturday night. “This is the worst and most reckless government in the history of this country. From their perspective, there should be war here forever.”
The tweets coincided with multiple demonstrations across Tel Aviv on Saturday night that organizers said drew more than 120,000 people. Demonstrators saw Biden’s announcement as a turning point after eight bitter months of limbo and chanted for the government to implement the agreement.
“We will keep fighting until the corrupt government agrees to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s deal,” said Ayala Metzger, whose 80-year-old father-in-law, Yoram Metzger, is being held in Gaza. She was speaking near Israeli army headquarters in Tel Aviv, where police clashed with thousands of protesters chanting for the immediate overthrow of the government. She was wounded in the leg by a police cavalry unit, according to a video circulating on social media.
“Our trust in our government as a people was shattered on Oct. 7 and nothing has been done to repair it,” said Gill Dickman, whose cousin, Carmel Gatto, is one of the hostages.
“Biden is saying, as the responsible adult in this room, ‘I’m going to tell you the situation so that no one can back out for political reasons,'” Dickman said. Of Netanyahu, he added, “Biden is saying this train has already left the station. The question now is, do you hop on that train and bring the hostages back, or do you just stick your head against the wall as if you’re going to continue the war forever.”
The hostages’ families have stepped up efforts to pressure the government to resume negotiations, hoping to persuade authorities that the Israeli public would support a deal to return all the hostages.
“Representatives of the families called on all government ministers and coalition members to commit to supporting the agreement, do everything in their power to ensure its immediate implementation and thwart any attempts to obstruct it,” the Forum of Hostage Families, an umbrella group representing the majority of relatives of those held in Gaza, said in a statement on Saturday.
“It’s now or never,” Dickman said.
He said National Security Council Chairman Tsahi Hanegbi on Thursday told him and several other hostage families that “there is no Plan B” if the current ceasefire proposal is not implemented.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, said Sunday he thanked Biden for his speech and assured Netanyahu of his full support for the hostage deal.
“We must remember that according to Jewish tradition, there is no greater commandment than to release prisoners and hostages, especially when it comes to Israeli citizens whom the State of Israel has failed to protect,” he said in a speech at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which have been trying for months to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas, said in a statement on Saturday that “these principles will bring together the demands of all parties, reach a multi-benefit agreement and bring immediate relief to both the long-suffering people of Gaza and the hostages and their families.”
“The agreement sets out a roadmap for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the crisis,” the statement said.
Other things to know
US, Israeli and Egyptian officials will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss reopening the Rafah border crossing. A former Egyptian official familiar with the negotiations told The Washington Post that Egypt is pushing for the Gaza Strip to let in badly needed aid. The official added that the proposal is temporary to address the aid crisis and would take effect within the six-week period “established by President Joe Biden for a cessation of hostilities.”
All 36 shelters run by the United Nations Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Rafah are now empty. “The Israeli military has been trying to stop the spread of the virus, and we are now at a critical stage,” said its director-general, Philippe Lazzarini. He said Saturday night that a recent escalation in Israeli operations in the area had led to the exodus of more than one million people from Rafah, most of whom had already been forced to flee several times. “Attention is now focused on proposals to end this war with a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the large, safe flow of urgently needed supplies into Gaza,” he wrote. The IDF said Sunday it was continuing operations in the area, killing militants and verifying the location of weapons.
The Israel Defense Forces said Israeli Air Force jets struck a Hezbollah military facility in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. The attack came in retaliation for Hezbollah firing a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli Defense Forces drone operating in Lebanese airspace on Saturday, which Hezbollah claimed responsibility for attacking the drone on Saturday.
Yemen’s Houthi militias said they targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower on Saturday night, the second attack on the ship this week. The group said it had carried out five other operations, including an attack on a US destroyer in the Red Sea. The Houthis claimed the attack was in retaliation for “crimes against the displaced people of Rafah” by the Israel Defense Forces and an escalation of military operations at this stage of the war, as well as US and British attacks on Yemen earlier this week.
Dadush reported from Beirut. Heba Farouk Mahfouz contributed to this report.
