Introduction
Introduction Statistics Contact Development Disclaimer Help
.-') _ .-') _
( OO ) ) ( OO ) )
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,'
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | )
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--'
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Following Trump’s lead, Netanyahu shifts strategy on ceasefire even
after Hamas accepts
By Tal Shalev, CNN
Updated:
11:05 AM EDT, Tue August 26, 2025
Source: CNN
Nearly a week after Hamas the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal from
Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Israel has yet to respond - even as
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he is “immediately”
starting negotiations to release all the hostages and end the war.
The silence reflects a fundamental shift in Israel’s approach that
has befuddled mediators and families of the remaining hostages, who
have accused Netanyahu of abandoning and sacrificing their loved ones.
After 18 months of agreeing only to partial, phased ceasefire deals,
Netanyahu is now demanding a that would secure the release of all
hostages and end the war entirely – on Israel’s terms. The policy
reversal comes as the prime minister simultaneously accelerates plans
for a massive military assault on Gaza City, pursuing a dual strategy
of negotiating while waging war to “defeat Hamas.”
On Thursday, Netanyahu that he had instructed his team to immediately
start negotiations for the return of all the hostages and end the war
in Gaza. But he did so without once mentioning the proposal currently
on the table – which calls for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for
the release of half of the hostages. The latest proposal is similar to
the 60-day ceasefire Netanyahu agreed to last month, only with terms
more favorable to Israel after Hamas showed flexibility on the number
of prisoners to be released and the size of the security perimeter.
At the same time, Netanyahu made a point of continuing to advance plans
for the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) massive assault and takeover of
Gaza City. Israel attributes Hamas’ concessions to the threat of its
imminent Gaza City offensive, and Israeli officials say they believe
the renewed threat of heavy military pressure will make Hamas more
flexible to accept Israel’s conditions to end the war.
Israel has long claimed that military pressure will force Hamas to the
table, but the terror group, while depleted, has defied defeat despite
nearly two years of fighting.
Netanyahu has not explained what caused this dramatic shift from a
partial to a comprehensive negotiation framework, and his mixed
messaging has left many in Israel and abroad confused: for a year and a
half the government refused to discuss ending the war and only agreed
to negotiate phased and partial ceasefire agreements. Now he’s opting
only for a comprehensive deal and has been reluctant to respond to the
mediators’ latest proposal that was accepted by Hamas,
Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, said in a
statement, “The movement has presented everything necessary to reach
a ceasefire agreement and is still ready to do so with all national
responsibility and an open mind.” Naim said that Netanyahu has a
“green light” from the Trump administration to continue what he
called a “dirty game.”
Trump’s belief that Hamas ‘want to die’
According to senior Israeli sources, the answer in Netanyahu’s new
negotiations strategy lies not in Jerusalem but in Washington. In
recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has expressed explicit public
support for Israel’s renewed assault in Gaza, adopting the Israeli
rhetoric aiming to destroy Hamas, instead of pushing for a temporary
ceasefire.
“We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is
confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the
chances of success will be,” President Trump wrote on his Truth
Social media platform last week.
According to one senior Israeli source, after Hamas raised obstacles
during the in Qatar in July, Trump “lost patience and trust with the
partial process and doesn’t believe Hamas actually wants a deal.”
This echoes remarks his envoy Steve Witkoff made after the latest round
of talks collapsed, slamming Hamas as uncoordinated and not acting in
good faith and saying the US would explore alternative options to
secure hostage release and stabilize Gaza.
“It was too bad. Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think
they want to die,” Trump told reporters outside the White House at
the time. Shortly after the comments, Netanyahu’s office shifted to
an “all or nothing” approach, demanding a comprehensive deal.
In the latest Israeli security cabinet meeting, during which
Netanyahu’s government approved the decision to expand and deepen the
operation in Gaza City, five conditions were set to end the war:
disarmament of Hamas, the release of all the hostages, demilitarization
of Gaza while maintaining Israeli security control, and the
establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither
Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
But Hamas has drawn a red line at any notion of disarming. Israeli
analysts say Netanyahu’s double-messaging – pursuing war and peace
– is a political tactic to buy time. It prolongs the war and his own
rule.
“Netanyahu is fully aware that Hamas will never accept his conditions
for ending the war – and that is precisely his point,” Chaim
Levinson, a senior diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Haaretz
newspaper, told CNN. Netanyahu’s demand for territorial control over
large swaths of Gaza “is likely to derail any potential agreement.”
Netanyahu has demanded full Israeli security control over Gaza in any
post-war scenario, a scenario in which Israel would retain the right to
carry out strikes in Gaza. “Under such conditions, no one will invest
in Gaza, since the territory would remain trapped in a state of ongoing
conflict,” Levinson said.
While repeated polling has shown that the vast majority of the Israeli
public would support any deal that would bring back the hostages -
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel
Smotrich, adamantly oppose any ceasefire or end to the war, and have
warned more than once that it could lead to the collapse of his
government.
Because of that overt threat, all of the hostage deals so far were
designed as phased and gradual, according to an Israeli source with
knowledge of the negotiations. The partial approach enabled Netanyahu
to promise his coalition partners that Israel will resume the war
eventually.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies have pressed the Israeli leader to
expand the war and ramp up the bombardment of the devastated enclave
until Hamas surrenders.
Former State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden
administration believed Netanyahu was throwing up roadblocks to a
ceasefire deal. “There were times that we very much wanted to go
public and make clear that we thought the prime minister was being
completely intransigent and making it tougher to get a deal,” he told
Israel’s Channel 13. But the administration kept the disagreements
private, Miller said, because former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar pulled
back from negotiations when he saw a split between the US and Israel.
The prime minister’s latest maneuvering and perceived double
messaging has escalated tensions between his government and the
families of the remaining hostages in Gaza. The families, who have been
ramping up public pressure since the cabinet approved the Gaza City
offensive, accused the government of sacrificing the hostages by
delaying or dismissing the partial agreement on the table.
After launching some of the largest Israel has seen since the beginning
of the conflict nearly two years ago, the hostage families are
scheduling another protest for Tuesday night, trying to keep the
pressure on a government they feel is deaf to their cries of pain.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan, who is held hostage in Gaza,
blamed Netanyahu for torpedoing the negotiations. “You are setting
unattainable conditions to end the war, preparing the army to conquer
Gaza, you will lead soldiers into death traps,” she said at a
demonstration on Friday night outside the prime minister’s residence.
“You will sentence Matan to death, you will cause the deceased
hostages to disappear forever!”
In an attempt to brush off public criticism, Netanyahu’s office
briefed Israeli reporters over the weekend that he will be sending a
negotiation team as soon as a location is set for the talks.
But without a site selected for the next attempt at ceasefire
negotiations – and with the US team tied up with Ukraine and Russia
– Netanyahu can pursue his dual strategy: making statements about
ending the war while taking military action that escalates it.
<- back to index
You are viewing proxied material from codevoid.de. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.