The Israeli government has told the families of hostages held in Gaza that it will not agree to end the war in exchange for their release, Israeli media reported, after Hamas released a video of a hostage claiming that 70 captives are dead.
Gal Hirsch, Israel’s envoy for hostages, met with families last night after the footage of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was broadcast. The envoy reportedly offered assurances that efforts to secure the release of captives were ongoing and fighting could be paused to facilitate a deal.
But the meeting turned rancorous, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported, as the families were told there was no imminent prospect of the hostages’ release, and their request to address Israel’s cabinet was denied. Mr Hirsch said Israel would not agree to “end the war even for all the abductees”, the report stated.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on whether the account was accurate. Mr Netanyahu has stated that the destruction of Hamas is the primary aim of the war in Gaza.
The video released by Hamas on Wednesday night showed Mr Goldberg-Polin missing part of his left arm, consistent with a video from 7 October that showed the Israeli-American being captured by militants with a bloody injury to the same limb.
The video, dismissed as “psychological terror” by an IDF spokesperson, showed the hostage attacking the Israeli government for failing to secure the release of hostages, and claiming that many had been killed by the Israeli bombardment.
“Benjamin Netanyahu and his government should be ashamed… because you neglected us along with thousands of other citizens,” he said. “[Israeli] Air Force bombings killed about 70 detainees.”
Israel said in February that at least 31 of 133 hostages held in Gaza are believed dead.
Mr Goldberg-Polin dated the video by claiming to have spent almost 200 days in captivity, a milestone reached this week, and referring to Passover festivities.
He spoke of living in an “underground hell without water, food, sun or medical treatment”.
The prisoner’s parents described seeing their son for the first time since his abduction as “overwhelming” and pleaded for all parties involved in negotations – including Qatar, Egypt, the US, Hamas and Israel – to make a deal for the hostages’ release.
Hostage families and their supporters staged a demonstration outside military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Thursday calling for a deal, as 18 countries including the US and the UK called on Hamas to free the captives.
Haim Rubinstein, a former spokesperson for the hostages’ families, accused Mr Netanyahu of undermining a deal.
“Netanyahu told the families that the price of the release of the prisoners was not a factor… [but] he raised all kinds of security issues to prevent a deal, such as the return of displaced people or the withdrawal of troops from a certain area [in Gaza],” he told Israeli news website Zman.
The Prime Minister was unwilling to alienate far-right members of his coalition and jeopardise his government by making concessions to Hamas to secure a deal, Mr Rubinstein added.
Hamas leaders have repeatedly stated that Israeli hostages will only be released after a permanent ceasefire.
Nimrod Novik, a former negotiator and adviser to Israeli ex-prime minister Shimon Peres, told i that Mr Netanyahu’s government has “missed opportunities” for a deal.
“Many in the country suspect that PM Netanyahu is guided by other than moral and humanitarian considerations,” he said, suggesting that a prolonged pause in fighting could lead to the collapse of an unpopular government.
Mr Novik also questioned Hamas’s intentions given that they had agreed to a two-week ceasefire for a prisoner exchange last year but were now turning down a six-week pause, according to leaked details of negotiations.
Hamas’s insistence on a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s refusal to countenance could be fatal for a deal – and the hostages – or a creative solution could be found, the former negotiator said.
“I can’t rule out the possibility that a formula will be found, whereby Hamas accepts a more vague commitment to the end of fighting and complete IDF withdrawal or a gradual approach to both objectives,” he said.
“Conversely, I am afraid that the darker alley, whereby the gaps will not be bridged, can’t be ruled out either.”