Tel Aviv
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Nearly a week after Hamas accepted the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal from Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Israel has yet to respond - even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he is “immediately” starting negotiations to release all the hostages and end the war.
The silence reflects a fundamental shift in Israel’s approach that has befuddled mediators and families of the remaining hostages, who have accused Netanyahu of abandoning and sacrificing their loved ones.
After 18 months of agreeing only to partial, phased ceasefire deals, Netanyahu is now demanding a comprehensive agreement that would secure the release of all hostages and end the war entirely – on Israel’s terms. The policy reversal comes as the prime minister simultaneously accelerates plans for a massive military assault on Gaza City, pursuing a dual strategy of negotiating while waging war to “defeat Hamas.”
On Thursday, Netanyahu declared that he had instructed his team to immediately start negotiations for the return of all the hostages and end the war in Gaza. But he did so without once mentioning the proposal currently on the table – which calls for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of the hostages. The latest proposal is similar to the 60-day ceasefire Netanyahu agreed to last month, only with terms more favorable to Israel after Hamas showed flexibility on the number of prisoners to be released and the size of the security perimeter.
At the same time, Netanyahu made a point of continuing to advance plans for the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) massive assault and takeover of Gaza City. Israel attributes Hamas’ concessions to the threat of its imminent Gaza City offensive, and Israeli officials say they believe the renewed threat of heavy military pressure will make Hamas more flexible to accept Israel’s conditions to end the war.
Israel has long claimed that military pressure will force Hamas to the table, but the terror group, while depleted, has defied defeat despite nearly two years of fighting.
Demonstrators block a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, near Jerusalem, Israel, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025.
Demonstrators block a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, near Jerusalem, Israel, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Netanyahu has not explained what caused this dramatic shift from a partial to a comprehensive negotiation framework, and his mixed messaging has left many in Israel and abroad confused: for a year and a half the government refused to discuss ending the war and only agreed to negotiate phased and partial ceasefire agreements. Now he’s opting only for a comprehensive deal and has been reluctant to respond to the mediators’ latest proposal that was accepted by Hamas,
Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, said in a statement, “The movement has presented everything necessary to reach a ceasefire agreement and is still ready to do so with all national responsibility and an open mind.” Naim said that Netanyahu has a “green light” from the Trump administration to continue what he called a “dirty game.”
Trump’s belief that Hamas ‘want to die’
According to senior Israeli sources, the answer in Netanyahu’s new negotiations strategy lies not in Jerusalem but in Washington. In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has expressed explicit public support for Israel’s renewed assault in Gaza, adopting the Israeli rhetoric aiming to destroy Hamas, instead of pushing for a temporary ceasefire.
“We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform last week.
According to one senior Israeli source, after Hamas raised obstacles during the last round of negotiations in Qatar in July, Trump “lost patience and trust with the partial process and doesn’t believe Hamas actually wants a deal.”
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