Israel PM and defense minister clash over Gaza hostage deal

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, gather at the “hostages square” in Tel Aviv, to watch a live transmission on a large screen of Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress on July 24, 2024. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant exchanged criticism on Monday over stalled talks for a ceasefire deal that would free hostages held in Gaza.

“The reason a hostage deal is stalling is in part because of Israel”, Israeli media, including television channel Kan, reported Gallant saying in a private briefing for a parliamentary committee on Monday.

Gallant was discussing the choice Israel faced between a ceasefire deal that could end the conflicts in the north with Lebanese Hezbollah and in Gaza, and escalating the war, Kan reported.

READ: Israel agrees to resume Gaza truce talks next week

“I and the defense establishment support the first option,” he said, rather than talk of “‘total victory’ and all that nonsense”, a phrase frequently used by Netanyahu in his communications.

Within hours of Gallant’s words leaking to the media, Netanyahu hit back in a statement issued by his office, in which he accused Gallant of jeopardizing a deal to secure the release of hostages.

“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage release deal,” Netanyahu said, adding that Hamas supremo Yahya Sinwar is the one “who has been and remains the only obstacle to a hostage deal.”

READ: Hamas demands Biden truce plan implemented, Gazans flee Israeli advance

He concluded by saying that Israel’s only choice was “to achieve total victory”, which “obligates everyone – including Gallant”.

Gallant defended himself in a post on X stating that during the briefing he had “emphasized that (he is) determined to meet the goals of the war and continue the fighting”.

He also blasted what he called “incessant leaks” since the beginning of the war, including the one on Monday.

Hamas commented on the row between the two politicians, with one of its leaders, Izzat al-Rishq saying in a statement that “Gallant’s admission (…) confirms what we have always said.”

“Netanyahu is lying to the world and to hostage families, he doesn’t care about the hostages’ lives and doesn’t want to reach an agreement”, he added.

Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel have said Netanyahu has sought to prolong the fighting for political gain.

In late July, Israeli media reported that Gallant was criticising the lack of a deal to guarantee the return of the hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7.

The Palestinian Islamist movement’s attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 people, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has since then killed at least 39,897 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.