As the Israeli government delays the Gaza ceasefire deal agreed upon with the Palestinian group Hamas, postponing the transition to phase two of the agreement, protesters gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Sunday night.
Yes, they were angry at his decision to unilaterally extend phase one of the deal and frustrated by his delays in fully implementing the agreement, which was brokered in January.
However, their banners and slogans made no mention of the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, even as Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave on Sunday.
Instead, the focus was on the Israeli captives still held in Gaza as Netanyahu seemingly drags his feet, appearing more focused on finding a way to avoid ending the war.
The Israeli government’s actions on Sunday seemed to signal an intent to end the ceasefire and resume full-scale war on Gaza, even as the captives remain there.
Although phase one of the ceasefire expired on Saturday, the agreement had stipulated that the terms of the truce—including the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza—would continue while negotiations for phase two progressed.
However, Israel announced on Sunday the emergence of a “Witkoff plan”—referring to United States Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff—which would see half of the captives released immediately and the other half after an agreement on a permanent ceasefire, effectively discarding the original ceasefire deal.
Israel seized the opportunity presented by this unconfirmed plan—neither the US nor Witkoff have acknowledged its existence—to reinstate its blockade of Gaza, causing food prices to skyrocket.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the aid blockade would have “devastating consequences” for children and families in Gaza, already battered by 16 months of war.
Collective punishment is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, Professor Gerry Simpson of the London School of Economics told Al Jazeera, regardless of who enforces it.
“The fact that it is being phrased as a form of punishment suggests a certain disregard for the laws of war, but that disregard does not render these laws null or unimportant,” he said.
In addition to suspending aid, the Israeli government is also considering approving a bill that would allow it to call up 400,000 reserve soldiers in anticipation of renewed conflict in Gaza.
Following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 300,000 reserve soldiers were mobilised, the largest call-up in Israel’s history at the time.
Angry Families
While widespread public anger towards Netanyahu over the breakdown in negotiations has yet to emerge, former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, Alon Pinkas, told Al Jazeera that it is likely to grow if the impasse continues, until it becomes “clear that he’s [Netanyahu] looking for a pretext to break the ceasefire and thus condemn hostages to death.”
The fate of the approximately 251 captives taken during the October 7 attack has been a central theme in Israeli public criticism of the prime minister.
However, recent weeks—marked by images of captives returning to their families dominating the media—have amplified the voices of their families, who are often critical of Netanyahu.
Those protesting outside Netanyahu’s residence on Sunday night, led by the captives’ families, made it clear that they hold the prime minister responsible for the impasse in finalising the ceasefire agreement.
At a press conference held earlier that day by several captives’ families, Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri Miran remains in Gaza, rejected claims by some members of Israel’s cabinet, including Netanyahu, that no agreement is possible while Hamas exists. She told reporters, “Hostages immediately, Hamas afterwards.”
“Netanyahu knows he doesn’t have a monopoly over the narrative right now,” Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said, “so there’s a risk that, with this delay, he could find himself under increased fire from the hostages’ families, who have a lot of public sympathy.”
Goldberg suggested that this, along with other factors tied directly to Netanyahu’s political survival, may limit how long the current impasse can continue.
Bad Faith
Scepticism over Netanyahu’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement is not new. Since its inception, the prime minister has hinted at his willingness to break the agreement to placate critics, while also using the ceasefire’s existence to reassure the captives’ families and their supporters.
In January, Netanyahu signalled his intention to break the agreement during negotiations with hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, convincing him to remain in the cabinet and not join far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who resigned over the prospect of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
As part of his deal with Smotrich, Netanyahu reportedly assured the finance minister that the ceasefire was temporary and that military operations in Gaza would resume to dismantle Hamas’s military and governing capabilities once the “temporary” truce ended.
Negotiations on a permanent ceasefire were expected to be part of the second stage.
“People don’t really trust Netanyahu,” analyst Nimrod Flashenberg said from Tel Aviv. “A lot of the public doubted that the ceasefire would hold from the start, but we really don’t know what will happen next. A lot of that depends upon the [US President Donald] Trump administration.”
For many observers, everything from the delay in progressing to the second stage of the ceasefire deal to the ambiguity over who suggested its suspension is typical of a prime minister who has long profited from sowing confusion among his critics.
“This is what he does,” Goldberg said. “It’s what everyone in Israel expects of him. Politically, there’s no reason for it. He has no political rivals; he has the settlers on [his] side. It’s just what he does.”
“For Netanyahu, these byzantine schemes are essential to keeping the Israeli ship of state on course,” he said.
“What public criticism there is of Netanyahu isn’t on the grounds that he’s withholding aid or blocking negotiations, it’s that he’s doing it badly: he’s selling it wrong,” Goldberg said. “They feel, if they had someone else in charge, they could cut the aid to Gaza and win applause for doing so.”
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