Videos released in recent days, one by Hamas and one by the Islamic Jihad, showing two severely emaciated hostages, Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, sent shock waves throughout Israel and increased the pressure on the government to act to end the deadlock.
More than 60 per cent of Israelis back a ceasefire that will bring all the 50 hostages home, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
But the far-right members of the coalition reacted to the videos by calling for the conquest of all of Gaza and for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to operate in areas of Gaza city and the central refugee camps where it is believed hostages are being held.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told ministers on Monday that he intends to convene the security cabinet this week to instruct the IDF on how to reach three objectives the government set for the war in Gaza: “defeating the enemy; releasing the hostages; and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel”.
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The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most of the 50 hostage families, came out against expanding the military operation in Gaza.
“Netanyahu is preparing the largest possible scam,” the forum said in a statement. “His talking points about releasing the hostages while claiming victory in Gaza have been made repeatedly, and they are meant to deceive the public.”
The forum also said that “expanding the war endangers the lives of the hostages, who are already in immediate danger of death.”
Also opposing an escalation of the war was a group of some 600 retired Israeli security officials, including former heads of intelligence agencies, who wrote to US president Donald Trump, urging him to pressure Israel to immediately end the war.
“It is our professional judgment that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,” the officials said. Israel is reportedly considering annexing parts of Gaza in an attempt to pressure Hamas to release hostages, but no decision has yet been made.
On the ground the fighting continues, along with the dire humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said on Monday that at least 94 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours by IDF fire, 29 of them killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid.
Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany and Belgium all air-dropped aid on Monday.
Despite the fact that Israel recently allowed more aid to enter the enclave, including daily international air drops, UNRWA, the UN agency for refugees, warned that 500-600 lorries a day are needed to prevent the more than 2.1 million population from starving. The World Food Programme said it has still not been open to reopen bakeries and food kitchens that have been closed since May.
The war began on October 7th, 2023 when 1,200 people were killed when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel. Up to 250 people were taken hostage into Gaza. More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza in almost 22 months of fighting.
