Israel Netanyahu toughens his stance in Gaza negotiations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is causing anger and irritation with his tougher conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

According to a media report, his new demand that an agreement must prevent the return of armed Hamas fighters from the south to the north of the sealed-off Gaza Strip threatens to derail the recent hopeful efforts to reach a deal for the release of hostages held by the Islamist Hamas.

Several members of the Israeli negotiating team had expressed reservations about Netanyahu's demand during consultations with him, reported the well-connected Israeli journalist Barak Ravid on the news portal "walla.co.il". It was not feasible, one of the participants was quoted as saying. Netanyahu had previously reiterated his conditions for an agreement during a speech to prospective officers, which he had recently listed before the resumption of indirect negotiations, thus causing criticism.

Hostage relatives shocked

Preventing armed Hamas fighters from returning to northern Gaza is a demand that was not part of Israel's position presented at the end of May; it is not clear why Netanyahu raised it, Ravid quoted his source as saying. The Forum of Relatives of Hostages Held in Gaza responded to the reports that Netanyahu's new demand could prevent an agreement from being reached, saying: "We are appalled and shocked by this irresponsible behavior".

"It could lead to a missed opportunity that may never return," it said in a statement. Netanyahu is now also demanding that the Israeli army continue to exercise control over the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border with Egypt in southern Gaza. According to Israel, Hamas has used this border area to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army took control of the corridor a few weeks ago.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the latest negotiations held in Cairo this week, in which Egypt, Qatar and the USA are mediating between Israel and Hamas, focused on ideas for securing this border strip without the presence of the Israeli army. Egypt wants Israel to withdraw its troops there. However, Netanyahu's office has now made it clear in a statement: "The Prime Minister insists that Israel will remain in the Philadelphi Corridor," it said.

To insist on remaining in the area means "that there is no agreement", the US newspaper quoted a former officer of Israeli military intelligence and head of a forum for Palestinian studies at Tel Aviv University. The fact that Netanyahu is now also demanding that an agreement prevent Hamas fighters from returning from the south to the north of the sealed-off coastal area is seen by some members of the Israeli negotiating team as a purely tactical maneuver, Ravid continued.

Netanyahu tactics

Netanyahu is toughening his stance in the knowledge of intelligence information according to which Hamas is militarily weakened in the Gaza Strip and now wants a ceasefire, Ravid wrote on the US news portal "Axios". Critics accuse Netanyahu of not being interested in a negotiated solution. Netanyahu, who is the subject of a corruption trial, must show consideration for his ultra-religious and far-right coalition partners. They refuse to make concessions to Hamas and are threatening the collapse of his government.

Netanyahu recently listed Israel's right to resume fighting as a non-negotiable condition for a ceasefire agreement, in addition to preventing the return of armed Hamas fighters to northern Gaza. Israel would also "maximize" the number of live hostages who would have to be released by Hamas as part of a deal. Weapons smuggling from Egypt would be prevented. "These are our irrevocable principles," Netanyahu reiterated in a statement from his office.

Cautious optimism

The slow-moving indirect negotiations, which mostly take place in Cairo and Doha, are about exchanging the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and finding ways to achieve a lasting ceasefire. Cautious optimism had recently emerged in negotiating circles because Hamas appeared to have relaxed some of its rigid positions.

Mediators and former negotiators told the Wall Street Journal that Netanyahu had already hindered progress in the indirect negotiations in the past by making public statements and limiting the mandate of his own negotiating team. His latest statements could be seen as a continuation of this trend. There are still outstanding issues that go beyond what was agreed with the mediators, a senior Egyptian official was quoted as saying.

War continues

This is hindering progress in the negotiations on a hostage deal, the official said. According to Israeli estimates, around 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza. However, many of them are probably no longer alive. The war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations in southern Israel on 7 October last year. They killed more than 1,200 people and deported another 250 to Gaza.

After more than nine months of war, Israel has come under international criticism for the many casualties among the Palestinian population and the immense destruction. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 38,300 Palestinians have already been killed in Gaza. The figure makes no distinction between civilians and armed fighters and cannot be independently verified.