Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down deals to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas in return for a 5 day cease fire, the Guardian reports. Despite strong pressure by the Israeli public to get the hostages released, Netanyahu rejected all deals that would have led to a release of hostages in return for temporarily holding back on hostilities.
According to three sources familiar with the talks, the original deal on the table involved freeing children, women and elderly and sick people in exchange for a five-day ceasefire, but the Israeli government turned this down and demonstrated its rejection with the launch of the ground offensive. ….
“Each time the Israeli counter-demand got harder,” the source said. Members of Hamas have previously said they took hostages in order to exchange them for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The negotiations have also brought splits inside the Israeli establishment to the fore, pitting hawks in the military, government rightwingers, and particularly Netanyahu, against the Mossad intelligence agency, which is the lead agency in hostage negotiations, and some of the generals.
“Each time a deal would go back to Bibi [Netanyahu] it would come back with tougher demands,” one source said. Netanyahu has repeatedly publicly rejected any idea of a ceasefire, and has instead opted to intensify attacks on Gaza.