Israel PM and defense minister clash over Gaza hostage deal

JERUSALEM

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant exchanged criticism on Monday over stalled talks for a ceasefire deal that would free hostages held in Gaza.

"The reason a hostage deal is stalling is in part because of Israel", Israeli media, including television channel Kan, reported Gallant saying in a private briefing for a parliamentary committee on Monday.

Gallant was discussing the choice Israel faced between a ceasefire deal that could end the conflicts in the north with Lebanese Hezbollah and in Gaza, and escalating the war, Kan reported.

"I and the defence establishment support the first option," he said, rather than talk of "'total victory' and all that nonsense", a phrase frequently used by Netanyahu in his communications.

Within hours of Gallant's words leaking to the media, Netanyahu hit back in a statement issued by his office, in which he accused Gallant of jeopardising a deal to secure the release of hostages.

"When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage release deal," Netanyahu said, adding that Hamas supremo Yahya Sinwar is the one "who has been and remains the only obstacle to a hostage deal."

He concluded by saying that Israel's only choice was "to achieve total victory", which "obligates everyone - including Gallant".

Gallant defended himself in a post on X stating that during the briefing he had "emphasised that (he is) determined to meet the goals of the war and continue the fighting".

He also blasted what he called "incessant leaks" since the beginning of the war, including the one on Monday.

Hamas commented on the row between the two politicians, with one of its leaders, Izzat al-Rishq saying in a statement that "Gallant's admission (...) confirms what we have always said."

"Netanyahu is lying to the world and to hostage families, he doesn't care about the hostages' lives and doesn't want to reach an agreement", he added.

Hamas officials, some analysts and critics in Israel have said Netanyahu has sought to prolong the fighting for political gain.

In late July, Israeli media reported that Gallant was criticising the lack of a deal to guarantee the return of the hostages held in Gaza since Hamas's unprecedented attack on Oct. 7.

Last week, Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators urged Israel and Hamas to finalize the details of a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal with no further delays or excuses.

While Israel said it will send a delegation to the talks, Hamas demanded that mediators present a plan to implement the cease-fire proposal supported by Biden that it had agreed to on July 2.

Indirect talks mediated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire deal over Netanyahu’s rejection of Hamas’s call for ending the war and allowing the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.

Israel, flouting a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed roughly 39,900 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,000 others, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.