A large blood-stained Israeli flag flew on Tel Aviv's Menahem Begin Avenue in front of the Ministry of Defense on Friday night. The man carrying her was outraged, as were the hundreds of people around him. They were not against the war in Gaza but, despite the start of the Sabbath, they took to the streets to ask for the fighting in the strip to stop. The outrage was due to the announcement hours earlier, by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), that troops had “mistakenly” killed three hostages kidnapped during the October 7 terrorist attack by mistaking them for Hamas fighters. This Saturday it was learned that they had their hands up, were shirtless and were waving a white flag. In addition, the Government also reported that another twenty hostages had been “murdered” by Hamas, which would reduce the number of hostages to around 118, although it is not known with certainty.
With a megaphone, a woman led the slogans in the middle of the avenue, blocked by the police: “All of them, now!”, a cry that is heard loudly every day in front of the Ministry of Defense but that since Friday has become much louder. draft. “All” are the hostages, whom the families demand that Benjamin Netanyahu's government bring back and not precisely through military rescue operations. “Time is running out,” said one banner. “Agreement now,” read another, referring to the pact between Israel and Hamas that led to a week-long truce at the end of November, during which 105 hostages were released, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.
In this sense, another poster asked for the release of “all Palestinian prisoners” in exchange for the release of those kidnapped. This was the Hamas demand that ultimately led to the end of the ceasefire. There are an estimated 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. After the breakdown of the truce, Netanyahu ordered the return from Doha of the Mossad team that was negotiating with Hamas for the release of the hostages, with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, which generated concern and complaints among the relatives of the hostages, who began to raise their voices and charge against the Government, something they had not done until then.
This Saturday, after the death of the three hostages, it was leaked that the director of Mossad, David Barnea, had met on Saturday with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohamed bin Abderraman al Thani, to restart negotiations with Hamas. This Saturday night, at a press conference, Netanyahu confirmed it, although he assured that any negotiations with the Islamist group must be based on the military "pressure" that Israel exerts in Gaza.
The Israeli premier is experiencing his worst moments since the start of the war but has no intention of resigning, despite the fact that after Friday's “tragedy” – as he himself defined it – many voices and Hebrew media said that it was the time for him to leave. But no, Netanyahu redoubled his bet, yes, officially granting the reopening of negotiations with Hamas which, on the other hand, were never completely broken down, as several diplomatic sources agreed.
From “my heart is broken” or “Israel is in mourning,” Netanyahu went on to the usual tough speech. “We will continue to fight until victory,” he said. “We will fight together and with the help of God,” he added, while insisting that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will not govern Gaza, as the US and much of the international community want. A disagreement, along with his refusal to debate the two-state solution, that this week led US President Joe Biden to say that the Israeli government had to “change” its positions because it was “losing international support” due to bombings. indiscriminate attacks that have already killed almost 19,000 Palestinians in the strip.
“Gaza will be demilitarized and controlled by Israel,” Netanyahu added, alleging that the PA has not condemned the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 and that the majority of the Palestinian population supports that action. “We cannot let Khan Yunis be Jenin,” he added, justifying the hundreds of preventive detentions that the army carries out in the West Bank during Israeli military incursions where almost 300 Palestinians have already died since the start of the war, twelve of them this week. in Jenin.
While the press conference was being held at the Ministry of Defense, hundreds of relatives of the hostages were protesting in front of the building.
For his part, the head of the IDF, Herzi Halevi, appeared to give details of the death of the kidnapped people. “I think the three hostages did everything they could to make us understand: they moved around without shirts so we wouldn't suspect they were carrying explosives and they were holding a white cloth, but the tension surpassed all of that,” Halevi said.
