What’s happened: For a third consecutive evening, thousands of Israelis protested across the country Tuesday night calling for an immediate deal to release the remaining hostages.
- In Tel Aviv an estimated 300,000 people gathered, with some of the protesters blocking traffic outside the IDF and MOD military headquarters.
- As in the past, the families of the hostages gave emotional speeches, whilst the crowd chanted “Everyone! Now!”
- The same chant was heard in Jerusalem and elsewhere across the country.
- In a press conference yesterday, the government heard renewed criticism from the leader of the National Unity Party MK Benny Gantz, who served as part of the inner war cabinet from 10th October until early June.
- He accused the prime minister of “hesitating” during the process of the hostage negotiations in November last year.
- Gantz recognised that controlling the Philadelphi Corridor was important to prevent weapons smuggling, but argued for a withdrawal to secure a hostage deal. “Just as we returned to fight as we needed too after that previous framework, so too, exactly, we will return to the Philadelphi Corridor if and when necessary, just as we will return to Zeitoun and Khan Younis and every other place.”
- He added if Netanyahu is not strong enough to stand up to international pressure, “he should resign and head home.”
- Gantz continued, “The Philadelphi Corridor is an operational challenge, but it isn’t the existential threat to the State of Israel. The Iranian axis of evil is the existential threat to us. An existential threat is a strategic-security threat, and it also includes the collapse of all the components of the State of Israel’s resilience…..the story isn’t Philadelphi, but the lack of true strategic decisions.”
- His party colleague MK Gadi Eisenkot, (who like Gantz is a former IDF Chief of Staff and served in the war cabinet with him) added, “The State of Israel’s strategic situation won’t stand or fall over the Philadelphi Corridor, and the defence establishment will know how to provide a solution to that, with the understanding that the task that is of the utmost priority is getting the hostages back because, if not, that will effectively be a death sentence for the hostages, and we see how many people have paid with their lives for the delays and suspension in the past number of months.”
- In response the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement that “Whoever does not contribute to the victory and the return of the hostages would do well not to interfere.” The statement detailed that “since Gantz and his party left the Government, Israel eliminated Hamas’s chief-of-staff and Hezbollah’s chief-of-staff, attacked the Houthis, seized the Philadelphi Corridor – the lifeline by which Hamas arms itself – and carried out a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah, which thwarted its malicious plan and destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the Galilee.”
Context: The continued pressure on the government is compounded by international pressure and ongoing fighting in Gaza, the north and the West Bank.
- There was also continued fallout of the UK government’s decision to restrict licenses of military components they supply to Israel (read more here)
- One UK minister said to The Times that the US had found the intervention “unhelpful” as it would hamper ceasefire negotiations, and that “by trying to please all sides, they’ve ended up pissing off everyone.”
- Another minister told The Times that Lammy and Reynolds should review arms exports for other countries, such as Saudi Arabia. “Why are they picking out the one Jewish state?” the minister questioned.
- Prime Minister Netanyahu commented on X/Twitter saying, “Days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, the UK government suspended thirty arms licenses to Israel. This shameful decision will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens,”
- “Hamas is still holding over 100 hostages, including 5 British citizens. Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas. Israel is pursuing a just war with just means, taking unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harm’s way and comporting fully with international law.
- “Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilization, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror. With or without British arms, Israel will win this war and secure our common future.”
- Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Yuli Edelstein called on Britain to “reconsider the decision” and “fix it immediately.” He added that that Israel “must promote a more comprehensive and independent ability to develop and manufacture weapons.”
- Out of a total of 251 people abducted on October 7th, 101 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, 97 of whom were captured on October 7th and out of which at least 33 are no longer alive. The other four include two bodies of IDF soldiers and two Israeli civilians who independently entered Gaza (they are both though to be suffering from mental illness) who have been held since 2014. They are both though to be included on the list of hostages to be released in the first humanitarian stage of a deal.
Looking ahead: Further protests are expected to continue to apply pressure on the government, and the US administration is expected to present its final version of the deal.
- The government also faces internal pressure. With the Knesset expected to begin to discuss the annual state budget, ultra-Orthodox coalition partners are threatening to not support it if they don’t receive allocations to their schools. However they have also stressed that they do not intend to bring down the government over this