Analysis
Hostage
deaths could pile pressure on Netanyahu to agree Gaza ceasefire
Bethan
McKernan
Jerusalem
correspondent
Discovery of
six bodies may trigger renewed protests as anger grows over prime minister’s
handling of the crisis
Sun 1 Sep
2024 16.45 BST
Overnight,
the rumours spread: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had found bodies in Gaza.
Everyone in Israel knew the corpses were likely to be hostages seized on 7
October. The grim details – how many, their identities, and how and when they
died – slowly emerged during the early hours of Sunday, to mounting sorrow and
fury across the country.
The bodies
of six people kidnapped alive by Hamas – Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh
Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino –
were found in a Rafah tunnel 20 metres underground, a kilometre away from where
another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, was found in relatively decent health last
week. Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen, appeared in a Hamas video in
April. It was clear from the footage that his left hand had been amputated.
Initial
autopsies indicated that all six had died from shots to the head and had
otherwise been in frail but stable condition, the Israeli daily Haaretz
reported. The IDF said it believed the hostages were killed on Friday or
Saturday, shortly before troops arrived at the location, to prevent their
rescue.
It is too
early to tell yet, but anger at their deaths could be the spark that
reinvigorates the protest movement in Israel calling for a ceasefire and
hostage release deal, as well as calls for new elections aimed at toppling the
rightwing government of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The longtime
Israeli leader has been repeatedly accused of stalling on a ceasefire deal for
his own political gain.
After
something of a summer lull, this Saturday night’s protests across Israel for a
ceasefire and hostage deal drew larger numbers than recent weeks. Demonstrators
were already galvanised by the recovery two weeks ago of the bodies of another
six hostages, five of whom were previously known to be dead, and the stalling
ceasefire talks. Public support for a deal remains high.
The last
cabinet meeting on Thursday reportedly ended in a shouting match between the
prime minister and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, after the assembled
ministers doubled down on Netanyahu’s demand that Israel must retain control of
the Gaza-Egypt border, a big sticking point in ceasefire talks.
Einav
Zangauker, whose 24-year-old son, Matan, is being held captive, accused
Netanyahu of “murdering” the hostages still in Gaza. “He’s decided to sentence
them to death. He’s decided to give them up. He’s decided to bury them in the
rubble of his politics. He is committing a crime against his own people,” she
told the crowd in Tel Aviv before the news of the most recent deaths broke.
The Hostages
and Missing Families Forum issued a statement calling on the public to prepare
for widespread protests on Sunday. “Starting tomorrow, the country will shake …
The abandonment is over,” it said.
On Sunday,
hundreds of people gathered outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem,
protesting in favour of a deal, and mass rallies are expected across the
country in the evening. Strikes are also on the cards, the first such
large-scale action so far of the 11-month-old war.
The mayors
of Tel Aviv and nearby Givatayim announced that the municipalities would be
striking on Monday to demand the return of the hostages, and more are expected
to follow suit.
The
Histadrut, Israel’s biggest trade union, has declared a general strike from 6am
on Monday after calls from the families of hostages and Israel’s opposition
leader, Yair Lapid.
This action
from the labour movement is decisive – it will mean Tel Aviv airport, the only
major route in and out of the country, will be closed, and could also affect
hospitals and other public services, costing the economy millions of shekels.
The
Histadrut has not taken such drastic action since March 2023, when Netanyahu
tried to fire Gallant over his opposition to the government’s controversial
judicial overhaul plans. It worked: Netanyahu was forced to reverse his
decision, and the proposed changes to the judiciary were delayed until the
Knesset’s summer session.
Economic
pressure was employed successfully against Netanyahu last year, but since 7
October the prime minister has become more desperate than ever to cling to
power. If the protesters’ goal is to bring down his government, change will
still need to come from within. Netanyahu’s coalition has a majority of four
seats; five members of the government would have to desert their leader in
order to force new elections.
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