Amid fear over hostage deaths, Netanyahu vows to keep fighting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to keep fighting in Gaza, even as fears over the accidental killing of three hostages in the enclave by the Israeli army raised new questions about his government’s prosecution of the war.
Mr. Netanyahu began a government meeting in Tel Aviv on Sunday by reading from a letter he said was from families of Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting in Gaza.
“You have a mandate to fight; you have no mandate to stop halfway,” Mr. Netanyahu read in Hebrew, according to a statement from his office.
As a “testament” for the fallen soldiers, Netanyahu said, the Israeli army would “fight to the end.”
The letter appears to contradict the message from relatives of Israelis still held hostage in Gaza. Many of them have taken to the streets to demand a ceasefire so that their loved ones can return home.
Weekly rallies in support of the hostages have drawn thousands of protesters to Tel Aviv to demonstrate outside the Israeli army headquarters. The news that the Israeli army had accidentally killed the three hostages on Friday added a sense of urgency to the meeting on Saturday evening.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on a central boulevard in Tel Aviv to demonstrate against the government before marching through the city to join the hostages rally.
“We see that the current approach is not working,” said Deborah Galili, a protester from Tel Aviv. She said she wanted Netanyahu’s government to pursue a peaceful solution that would bring the hostages home and end the fighting.
A weeklong ceasefire between Israel and Hamas saw the release of 105 Israeli hostages last month in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, before negotiations collapsed and the war resumed on December 1.
“Since then,” Ms. Galili said, “we don’t see any more hostages coming home alive.” The Israeli military has confirmed in recent weeks that several hostages are dead.
Some protesters said they believed the accidental killing of the three hostages by the Israeli army would mark a turning point in people’s willingness to publicly criticize Mr. Netanyahu and his government’s handling of the war.
Mrs Galili was one of them.
“Mr. Netanyahu has not taken responsibility,” she said, adding that he must “step up” and take responsibility or resign.
Efi Toledano, another Tel Aviv protester, had protested against Netanyahu’s government before the war. While he quit in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel, the deaths of the hostages prompted him to resume the protest on Saturday evening.
“We are taught that when there is war, we should all be quiet and support the soldiers,” Mr. Toledano said. He said the deaths of hostages indicated that Netanyahu might be interested in continuing the war even at the cost of the hostages’ lives. That’s why he added: “We return to make our voices heard and fight against this government.”