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Netanyahu worried prisoner exchange with Hamas could topple his gov’t
In Israel, people are frustrated that captives remain in Gaza and surprised that, in recent weeks, Israeli military activity there has intensified, according to Alon Liel, the former director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
“Generally speaking, Israelis are quite surprised that the intensity of the military activity is growing. I think the general feeling here was a month or two ago that [the war] will fade away and slow down, but it is not,” Liel told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, still faces the problems of looking like he has no victory in the war, and that any prisoner exchange with Hamas could topple him, he added.
“Any exchange will involve the release of many prisoners we have in our jails, and might – and probably will – topple his government,” Liel said.
“So he’s trying to manoeuvre and trying to find the point in time in which we will not be seeing the Hamas people and their supporters dancing in Gaza when they get the prisoners back and describing the result as a victory.”
Families of Israeli captives slam PM for backing partial ceasefire deal: Report
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the relatives of Israeli captives have criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for promoting a partial ceasefire proposal that would secure the release of only some of the Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip.
The paper said statements were made at a press conference hosted by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Haaretz quoted Yaron Or, the father of 30-year-old Avinatan Or, saying, “My son is being left behind. That’s what the prime minister decided. He decided that it was better not to decide”.
“These are just a few living hostages. Hamas decided in advance to free them, and not for free… I say to all of Israel, after this little deal, there won’t be another one,” he is quoted as saying.
Trump reiterates threat on release of Gaza captives
The US president-elect has renewed his earlier threat that there will be “hell to pay” if the captives held by Hamas in Gaza are not released by the time he is in office in about two weeks.
Asked what he meant by the previous threat during a radio interview with a conservative radio talk show host, Donald Trump said: “Exactly what it says – if those hostages aren’t released by the time I get to office, there will be hell to pay.”
Trump said he does not believe he has to get into details, but added that his response would not consist of saying “don’t” to enemies, as he accused outgoing President Joe Biden of repeatedly doing since the start of the war on Gaza. Trump also said “I’m with Israel” but “also for peace”.
A group of families of Israeli captives held a press conference in Tel Aviv earlier today, sending a direct message to Trump in English. “Please don’t leave any hostage behind, please make sure all hostages are coming back home,” they said.
Young Israelis ‘say we don’t want peace’, says former Israeli diplomat
Alon Liel, a former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, spoke to Al Jazeera about the attitude of younger generations in Israel towards the war on Gaza. “They’re accepting the fact that there is no alternative to fighting, and this is the majority, especially the young people today,” he said.
He added that as part of the older generation in Israel, he can remember a time when even the right wing used to say they wanted peace.
“Now young people … say we don’t want peace. We will not benefit from peace,” he noted.
Liel said that he believes it is “a very dangerous attitude that is developing” and there needs to be “a very fundamental change in the thinking of Israel, and maybe a fundamental change in the attitude of the international community to the conflict, too”.
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