'No one will preach to me': Netanyahu pushes back after Biden's 'not enough' remark

Sept. 3, 2024, 3:14 a.m.

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On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, following widespread protests and a general strike in Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden also urged Netanyahu to take further action after nearly 11 months of conflict.

In his first public address since Sunday’s mass protests showed many Israelis’ furious response to the discovery of six more dead hostages, Netanyahu said he will continue to insist on a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in talks — continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow band along Gaza’s border with Egypt where Israel contends Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza. Egypt and Hamas deny it.

Advertisement Netanyahu called the corridor vital to ensuring Hamas cannot rearm via tunnels. “This is the oxygen of Hamas,” he said.

And he added: “No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me. … No one will preach to me on this issue.'

Israelis took to the streets in droves on Sunday, driven by grief and anger, in what seemed to be the largest demonstration since the war began. Families and much of the public held Netanyahu responsible, arguing that the hostages could have been freed in a deal with Hamas. A rare nationwide general strike took place on Monday.

Late Monday, several thousand demonstrators gathered outside Netanyahu’s private home in central Jerusalem, chanting, “Deal. Now.” and carrying coffins draped in the Israeli flag. Scuffles broke out when police snatched away the coffins, and several protesters were arrested. Thousands more marched outside Netanyahu’s Likud party in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media.

But others support Netanyahu’s drive to continue the campaign in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel and has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. Netanyahu says the assault will force militants to give in to Israeli demands, potentially facilitate rescue operations and ultimately annihilate the group.

Advertisement Key ally the United States is showing impatience. Biden spoke to reporters as he arrived at the White House for a Situation Room meeting with the U.S. mediation team in the negotiations. Asked if Netanyahu was doing enough, Biden responded, “No.”

He insisted that negotiators remain “very close” to a deal, adding, “Hope springs eternal.”

Hamas has accused Israel of delaying negotiations for months by introducing new demands, including lasting Israeli control over the Philadelphi corridor and a second corridor running through Gaza. Hamas has offered to release all hostages in exchange for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants — these terms largely align with the framework for a deal proposed by Biden in July.

Advertisement Netanyahu has pledged “total victory” over Hamas and blames it for the failure of the negotiations. On Monday, he said he is ready to carry out the first phase of the cease-fire — a plan that would include the release of some hostages, a partial pullout of Israeli troops and the release of some prisoners held by Israel. But he rejected a full withdrawal from Gaza, saying he saw no other party that could control Gaza’s borders.

Israeli media have reported significant disagreements between Prime Minister Netanyahu and top security officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who advocate for a ceasefire.

Advertisement An official confirmed a heated exchange between Gallant and Netanyahu during a security cabinet meeting on Thursday, where Netanyahu pushed for continued Israeli control over the Philadelphi corridor.

Gallant was the sole dissenting voice, arguing that Netanyahu was prioritizing border arrangements over the lives of hostages. The official spoke anonymously to discuss the confidential meeting. Gallant called on the security cabinet on Sunday to overturn the decision.

Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas official leading the negotiations, told the Qatari network Al Jazeera late Sunday that Netanyahu had deemed keeping the Philadelphi corridor “more important” than winning the hostages’ release.

Advertisement Al-Hayya also said Hamas had offered “great flexibility,” including reducing its demand for 500 Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for each captive Israeli soldier to 50, and from 250 Palestinian prisoners or each Israeli civilian hostage to 30. He accused Israel of introducing new conditions including increasing the number of prisoners who would be deported upon release and banning the release of elderly or ill prisoners serving life sentences.

Israel stated that the six hostages found deceased in Gaza were killed by Hamas shortly before Israeli forces entered the tunnel where they were being held.

Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, appeared to say in a statement Monday that it now had a policy of killing any hostages that Israel tries to rescue. It said that after Israeli troops rescued four hostages in a deadly raid in June, it issued new orders to its fighters guarding hostages on how to deal with them if Israeli troops approach. It said that Netanyahu’s insistence on using military pressure instead of reaching a deal “will mean they (hostages) will return to their families in coffins.”

Reports indicate that three of the slain hostages were among those slated for release in the initial phase of the ceasefire proposal put forth by Biden in July.

Thousands attended the funeral Monday for one of the six, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He was one of the best-known hostages, with his parents leading a high-profile campaign for the captives’ release, meeting with Biden and Pope Francis and addressing the Democratic National Convention last month.

The general strike, called by Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, ended early after a labor court accepted a petition from the government calling it politically motivated.

It was the first such strike since the start of the war, aiming to shut down or disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking and health care. Some flights at Israel’s main international airport, Ben-Gurion, either departed early or were slightly delayed.

“There’s no need to punish the whole state of Israel because of what is happening, overall, it is a victory for Hamas,” said one passenger, Amrani Yigal.

But in Jerusalem, resident Avi Lavi said that “I think this is fair, the time has come to stand and to wake up, to do everything for the hostages to come back alive.”

Municipalities in Israel’s populated central area, including Tel Aviv, participated. Others, including Jerusalem, did not.

On October 7, approximately 250 individuals were taken hostage. During a ceasefire in November, over 100 hostages were released in exchange for the freedom of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Eight hostages have been rescued by Israeli forces. Sadly, three Israelis who had escaped captivity were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops in December.

An estimated 100 hostages remain in Gaza, with a third of them believed to have perished.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants.

The war has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times, and plunged the besieged territory into a humanitarian catastrophe, including new fears of a polio outbreak.

In the meantime, Israeli forces continued their extensive operation in the Jenin refugee camp, situated in the Israeli-controlled West Bank. Journalists witnessed heavy machinery demolishing roads. Palestinian medical personnel reported that Israeli troops were obstructing access for their ambulances to reach the injured.

Palestinians in a town outside Jenin held a funeral for a 58-year-old man, Ayman Abed, who was arrested the day before and died in Israeli custody. The Israeli military said he died from a “cardiac event,” but did not provide details. Human rights groups have reported abuses of Palestinians detained by Israel, and the military has confirmed the deaths of at least 36 Palestinians in its detention centers since October.

Israeli authorities claim to have eliminated 14 militants in Jenin and apprehended 25 others. Palestinian medical authorities indicate that at least 29 individuals have been killed, including five children.

Mohannad Hajj Hussein, a Jenin resident, said electricity and water were cut off. “We are ready to live by candlelight and we will feed our children from our bodies and teach them resistance and steadfastness in this land,” he said. “We will rebuild what the occupation destroyed and we will not kneel.”