Israel considers expanding war in Gaza: negotiations fail

Israel considers expanding war in Gaza: negotiations fail

Negotiations over a hostage exchange and ceasefire in the Gaza Strip appear to be deadlocked. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leans towards one Expansion of military operations, while Hamas demands that the humanitarian situation needs to be addressed before returning to conversation.

The status of the negotiations

An Israeli official said on Sunday that Netanyahu was "pushing for the freeing of the hostages through a military defeat of Hamas" and accused the militant group of evading serious negotiations. The official added that Netanyahu wants to combine the release of the hostages "with the entry of humanitarian aid into areas outside the combat zone and, to the extent possible, into areas not under Hamas control."

International reactions and plans

Asked about plans to expand the military campaign, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Monday it reflected "the desire to return all hostages" and "the desire to end this war after talks on a partial agreement failed."

It is unclear whether the Israeli government's approach is consistent with that of US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Witkoff spent three hours with them on Saturday Families of Israeli hostages and expressed that the plan “is not to expand the war, but to end it.” He emphasized that the negotiations should be designed so that the return of all 50 hostages takes place at the same time - “that is the only way”.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza

There are still 50 hostages in Gaza, of which at least 20 are believed to be alive. There was great consternation in Israel about Hamas' publication of images showing two of the hostages - Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski - weak and emaciated. Netanyahu said the images proved that Hamas “has no interest in a deal.” They want to break us with these terrible videos, the false horror propaganda that they spread to the world.”

The reaction of entrepreneurs and civil society

The Forum of Families of Hostages warned the government against expanding the military campaign in Gaza. "Netanyahu is preparing the greatest deception of all time. The repeated statements about freeing hostages through military victory are a lie and a public fraud," the forum said in a statement on Sunday. The forum called on Israel and Hamas to commit to "bringing the 50 hostages home, ending the war, and then rebuilding and revitalizing Israel," the statement said.

The ongoing humanitarian emergency

Hamas emphasizes that it is ready to negotiate, but only if "the catastrophic humanitarian situation" is addressed, according to Basem Naim, a senior Hamas politician. Another Hamas official, Mahmoud Mardawi, told CNN last week that there was "no point" in continuing talks as long as the hunger crisis in Gaza continued.

The number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza rose sharply in July, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week. Malnutrition is reaching "alarming levels", with more than 5,000 children under five receiving outpatient treatment for malnutrition in the first two weeks of July alone, the WHO said.

The situation of aid deliveries

The Hamas-controlled government communications office in Gaza said on Monday that 600 trucks of aid were needed daily to ease the hunger crisis. Last week, an average of 84 trucks per day came into the area. COGAT, the Israeli agency that oversees aid deliveries to Gaza, said on Monday that more than 200 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations on Sunday. But many of the trucks that enter the area are looted either by desperate civilians or organized gangs.

The United Nations announced on Friday that nearly 1,400 people have been killed while searching for food since the end of May; 859 near U.S.-backed sites Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and 514 along food delivery routes. The UN said that “most of the killings were carried out by the Israeli military.” On Sunday, 30 people were killed while trying to access food, including 19 in the north and 11 near a GHF aid site in Rafah, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.

Public opinion in Israel

Polls in Israel have consistently shown that a large majority supports ending the conflict in Gaza and securing the release of the hostages. A new survey from the Institute for National Security Studies resulted, that 38% of Jewish Israelis believe it is not possible to disarm Hamas, while 57% believe it is possible.

On Monday, hundreds of Israel's former security officials called on Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza. “It is our professional judgment that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,” the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with media on Monday. "At first this war was a just war, a defensive war. But when we achieved all the military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war," said Ami Ayalon, former director of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency.

However, right-wing extremist members of the government are pushing for the occupation of large parts of Gaza and measures to encourage the population to leave the area entirely.