Hostage families set out on final leg of 4-day march to Jerusalem, urge Netanyahu to ‘stop sabotaging the deal’

Family members of Israelis held hostage in Gaza, along with thousands of supporters, set out from Ma’ale Hahamisha on the final leg of a four-day march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, calling for a deal with Hamas to secure the release of their loved ones.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan, 24, was kidnapped by terrorists from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, tells the crowd, “We’re seeing more and more reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to sabotage the deal [to release the hostages]. He adds demands that could cost Matan his life, he adds demands that could cost the lives of other hostages.”

Shouts of “shame!” can be heard from the crowd as Zangauker says the prime minister’s name.

“We won’t let you, Benjamin Netanyahu. We demand that you stop sabotaging the deal, we demand that you sign the deal. Put aside all personal or political considerations and bring the hostages home,” she says.

Einav Zangauker gave a short speech this morning before embarking on Day 3 of the March to Jerusalem:

“It is so touching to wake up in the morning and see masses of Israelis joining our ‘march for a deal’, ‘march for hope’. I fee as though we have already been friends for a very… pic.twitter.com/PqkFPt3VfE

— We Are All Hostages (@AllHostages) July 12, 2024

Yesterday, the families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas decried Netanyahu’s handling of ceasefire talks, after officials accused the premier of derailing the negotiations with his demand for an enforcement mechanism to prevent armed Hamas operatives from returning to northern Gaza.

It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.

The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

Source: TOI

Hostage families decry Netanyahu’s handling of ceasefire talks in wake of new demands

The families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas decried Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of ceasefire talks after officials accused the premier of derailing the negotiations with his demand for an enforcement mechanism to prevent armed Hamas operatives from returning to northern Gaza.

Netanyahu is also now calling for Israel to retain control along the Gaza-Egypt border, hardening his negotiating stances in light of reported intelligence showing Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement due to its weakening military position.

Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States have failed to secure an agreement for the release of hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire since a weeklong truce in November that saw Hamas free 105 people kidnapped during its October 7 onslaught. However, there has been renewed optimism about the talks after Hamas dropped its demand that the framework include an upfront commitment from Israel to end the war during the first phase — though the terror group is still demanding a commitment to that effect from mediators.

“We are horrified and shocked by this irresponsible behavior that is likely to lead to missing an opportunity that may never come back,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
“By the time everybody comes to their senses and works together, there may be no one to bring back.”
“Every minute is an eternity for us and every second is hell for them. We appeal to the prime minister: we stand behind the Netanyahu deal. Now it’s your turn to stand behind the deal you put on the table.”

An official involved in the talks told Channel 12 news that Israel was facing a “moment of truth for the hostages,” saying a deal could be reached within two weeks.

“The prime minister’s insistence on building a mechanism to prevent the movement of armed operatives [to northern Gaza] will stall the talks for weeks and then there may not be anyone to bring home,” the official added.

According to the Walla news site, Netanyahu raised the issue during a meeting with the negotiating team on Thursday night. The negotiators reportedly told Netanyahu that they were opposed to the new condition and it was unfeasible, but the premier was said to insist on it.

“It is a demand that was not part of the Israeli proposal from May 27,” a senior official was quoted as saying, referring to the draft outlined by US President Joe Biden four days later, which currently forms the basis of the talks.
“It’s not clear why Netanyahu is raising this demand now. The security services know how to deal with the return of the armed terrorists to northern Gaza,” the official said.

In another report, officials involved in the negotiations told the Kan public broadcaster that Netanyahu was now micromanaging the talks, conducting the negotiations practically on his own.

The public broadcaster quoted the officials as saying that Netanyahu was “managing every iota” of the negotiations and investing much more time in handling them.

Channel 12 also reported that officials believe Netanyahu is trying to delay an agreement because he is likely to lose his coalition over the deal, with far-right parties vowing to quit if it goes through.

Also Friday, the Axios news site reported that five families of US citizens held hostage by Hamas are seeking a sit-down with Netanyahu and their congressional representatives when he visits Washington later this month to address a joint session of Congress, to

“Collectively, we have never met the Prime Minister as a group, and we believe the visit presents an unmissable opportunity, as there is no better time to meet than when he is on US soil,” they were quoted as writing in a letter to Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog. “We believe the time is ripe to discuss the Israeli government’s strategy for securing the release of our loved ones and how the Prime Minister intends to implement that strategy.”

The families also said that if Netanyahu speaks to Congress about Israel’s military offensive against Hamas without meeting them, it “would signal that the fate of the hostages is not the highest priority for Israel’s government.”
“We respectfully urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to dedicate all his energy to reuniting our families.”

Hamas continues to demand written guarantees

Meanwhile, a Hamas official said Friday the Palestinian terror group was still insisting on written guarantees from mediators in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations that Israel will not resume the war after the first group of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are released.

While the two sides have agreed on a general framework for a deal, the main sticking point remains that Hamas wants it to result in a permanent ceasefire, while Netanyahu has said that any agreement “must allow Israel to return to fighting until all the objectives of the war are achieved.”

Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, the head of Hamas’s political office in Lebanon, told The Associated Press in an interview that Hamas has been “flexible” on some points but continued to insist that “negotiations should continue for a permanent ceasefire until a permanent ceasefire is reached,” as opposed to the wording in the current proposal, under which the ceasefire should continue as long as negotiations continue.

“Netanyahu can stop the negotiations and thus resume the aggression” at any time, he said.
“We want something in writing to ensure that negotiations continue … in order to reach a permanent ceasefire.”

He denied reports that the terror group’s leadership inside Gaza had pressured political leaders outside to accept the deal on the table due to the military pressure it is facing, saying that the “military situation is very solid for the resistance (Hamas) and is better than the early days of the war.”

Abdul-Hadi said that Hamas does not expect to resume its role as the ruling party in Gaza after the war but wants to see a Palestinian government of technocrats. However, he said the form that future governance in the enclave should take is “a Palestinian matter that is agreed upon by the Palestinian people” and is not on the table in the current negotiations.

“We do not want to rule Gaza alone again in the next phase,” he said.
“We want to have a partnership and national consensus.”

In related remarks, a member of Hamas’s political bureau said the terror group has suggested during ceasefire negotiations that an independent government of non-partisan figures run postwar Gaza and the West Bank, with another Hamas source saying this would pave way for Palestinian national elections.

“We proposed that a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war,” Husam Badran said in a statement about the ongoing negotiations.
“The administration of Gaza after the war is a Palestinian internal matter without any external interference, and we will not discuss the day after the war in Gaza with any external parties,” Badran asserted.

A Hamas official told AFP the proposal for a non-partisan government was made “with the mediators.”

The potential government will “manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the initial phase after the war, paving the way for general elections,” said the official, who did not want his name disclosed.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy Hamas, topple its Gaza regime, and free the hostages.

Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.

The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas has also been holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Agencies contributed to this report.