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Demonstrators clash with police during a protest for the release of hostages held in Gaza, outside the home of Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Jerusalem, Israel, on April 13, 2025.
Current and former Israeli security forces demand a deal with Hamas
Thousands of Israeli soldiers, senior military officials, former intelligence operatives, military reservists, and veterans organizations have called on Israel’s prime minister to strike a deal with Hamas to free the remaining 59 hostages the group holds.
Twenty-four of those captives, taken during the group’s October 7, 2023 rampage into Southern Israel, are believed still alive, although Hamas said it lost contact with one living US-Israeli hostage yesterday.
In a series of open letters, these groups accuse Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering Israel’s security. Some claim he’s continuing the war to appease the right-wing nationalist parties that help him remain prime minister.
A missive from special forces reservists published on Monday said the latest wave of Israeli assaults on Gaza, which began last month after phase one of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal lapsed, “is intended only to serve the political goals of the government and the criminal defendant who heads it.” This is a pointed reference to the corruption charges Netanyahu has faced since before the war. He effectively holds immunity against them so long as he is prime minister.
Netanyahu has denounced those protesting. They are “frustrated retirees”, he said, and “an extreme fringe group that is once again trying to break Israeli society from within.”
Recent polls report that about 70% of Israeli Jews favor a deal with Hamas to free the remaining hostages, even if that means ending the war.
The big question: How long can Netanyahu continue a policy that moves out of line with what a majority of Israeli Jews want?
Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir shake hands as the Israeli government approve Netanyahu's proposal to reappoint Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of National Security, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusaelm, March 19, 2025
Israel gets “budget of war” amid new plans for Gaza and West Bank
It also included a series of tax hikes that were heavily criticized by opposition parties. Outside the Knesset, demonstrators protested the government’s failure to secure the release of the remaining 59 Israeli hostages as well asrecent moves by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss the head of Israel’s intelligence agency and its attorney general.
For all the protests, the budget’s passage represents “a significant political win for Netanyahu,” according to Eurasia Group managing director Firas Maksad.
“With greater room to maneuver politically from here on, the big question is if the prime minister will be more flexible on moving towards phase two of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, thereby beginning to bring the conflict with Hamas to close,” Maksad added.
A fund for war? Israel is reportedly preparing amajor ground offensive in Gaza after the end of the recent two-month ceasefire, includingseizing additional territories and potentially occupying the enclave. “If there are not renewed hostage negotiations, then the only alternative left is to resume the fighting,” warned Eyal Hulata, former head of Israel’s National Security Council. “And there are serious plans.”
Other plans include creating new settlements on the West Bank. Last week, Israel’s security cabinet greenlit a decision to split off 13 “neighborhoods” of existing West Bank settlements, established decades ago without authorization, from their “mother settlement,” creating independent settlements. The Palestinian Authority condemned the move as well as increased Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank as “an unprecedented escalation in the confiscation of Palestinian lands.”
Tensions in the West Bank have been escalating for months. On Monday, the Oscar-winning Palestinian director of “No Other Land,” Hamdan Ballal, was detained by Israeli forces on accusations of “rock throwing,” which he denied, after being attacked by settlers in the village of Susya. Ballal was released Tuesday and said he was beaten and blindfolded for 24 hours while in custody, and the Israeli military has not responded to the allegation.
Palestinians are fleeing their homes in response to Israel army evacuation orders in a number of neighborhoods following heavy Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on March 18, 2025.
Ceasefire ends as Israel resumes Gaza bombing
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire ended overnight, as Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ refusal to release Israeli hostages. The Israeli Defense Forces targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, members of Hamas’ politburo, and its infrastructure in multiple locations across Gaza, including Rafah, Khan Younis, and Gaza City.Over 300 fatalities have been reported, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The White House said that it was briefed in advance of the operation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated on X that the strikes followed the “repeated refusal to release our hostages and its rejection of all the proposals it received from US president’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators … Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Israel believes there are about 24 living hostages and 35 dead hostages still in Gaza. Hamas issued a statement saying Netanyahu’s decision to resume “aggression” against the territory exposes the hostages “to an unknown fate.” The IDF says it will continue the airstrikes “as long as necessary,” and expand the operation beyond an aerial campaign if ordered to do so by the Israeli government.
A group representing the families of the remaining hostages accused Netanyahu’s government today of choosing “to give up the hostages” by launching new strikes.
Israeli machinery maneuvers during an Israeli operation in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Feb. 23, 2025.
Gaza ceasefire hits a snag
Uneasy week: Tensions have been high since Hamas mistakenly sent the remains of an anonymous Gazan woman instead of those of Shiri Bibas when it returned the bodies of three Israeli hostages last week.
The Israeli government says it won’t return the Palestinian prisoners until Hamas commits to halting the hostage “ceremonies.” Finalizing the first phase of the deal, which is set to expire next weekend, is contingent upon the release of these detainees. Hamas, in turn, has called the delay a “blatant violation of [the ceasefire’s] terms.”
The second phase of the deal would involve Hamas releasing all remaining Israeli hostages in return for Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the details of the third and final phase still need to be ironed out.
Complicating matters further, the Israel Defense Forces moved tanks into the West Bank on Sunday and told tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians that they could not return to their homes in the occupied area. The moves are reportedly part of the largest Israeli military operation into the Palestinian Authority-controlled territory for more than two decades.Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack, are released by Hamas militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel on Feb. 8, 2025.
Hostage release sparks outrage, Israel withdraws from more of Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly shocked by their condition and vowed to bring the remaining hostages home. “Due to the harsh condition of the three hostages and the repeated violations of the Hamas terror groups,” his office said in a statement, “the prime minister has ordered that Israel will not gloss over this and will take action as needed.” Hamas, meanwhile, says it won’t release more hostages until Israel withdraws completely from Gaza.
What’s next? Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel withdrew from Gaza’s Netzarim corridor on Sunday, allowing thousands of displaced Palestinians to return north. But military operations continue: Israeli forces on Sunday killed three Palestinians in Gaza and two women in the West Bank, one of whom was pregnant, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
And as nations continue to reject US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to relocate Gaza’s inhabitants to other parts of the Middle East, Netanyahu suggested that a Palestinian state could be established in Saudi Arabia. While the Israeli PM reportedly appeared to be joking, Riyadh immediately repudiated the comments. Qatar, which is set to mediate the next round of the ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel this week, also condemned the remarks.
Released Doron Steinbrecher embraces loved ones at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, after being held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, on Jan. 19, 2025.
Gaza ceasefire goes into effect, and three hostages are set free
Following last-minute disagreements over Israeli troop withdrawals and the identities of the hostages to be released, the Gaza ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect on Sunday.
So far, three Israeli hostages — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher — have been reunited with their families, ending 471 days in captivity following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. They were the first of the 33 hostages set to be released under the deal — and Israel has agreed to release 1,900 Palestinians from Israeli jails. As of early Monday local time, 90 Palestinian prisoners had already been freed.
Domestic political costs: On Sunday, Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvirresigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet to protest the ceasefire. He was joined by two other ministers from the far-right Jewish Power party. This leaves Netanyahu with only a slim governing majority in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Further defection could lead to the government's collapse.
Will the deal hold up? For the first phase, lasting 42 days, the incentives seem well enough aligned to keep either side from breaching the peace. Hamas needs time to reorganize and rearm, which it can achieve by releasing the 33 hostages it has promised throughout the first phase. Netanyahu, for his part, wants to deliver those hostages for voters — but after that phase is over, prospects dim.
President-elect Donald Trump attends a campaign event, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 29, 2024.
Trump threatens military intervention in the Middle East over Israeli hostages
On Monday, President-elect Donald Trumpposted on social media that “if the [Israeli] hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East.”
Quite a threat to issue to an entire region, particularly given Americans’ skepticism of foreign involvement in overseas conflicts. But it’s a low-probability, high-risk sort of scenario, given that Trump did not specify who he would attack or how.
Meanwhile, at least 97 hostages or their remains are still in Gaza, and the Israeli military believes at least 35 of that group are dead. Hamas is also believed to be holding two corpses of Israeli soldiers killed a decade ago, and two living Israelis captured in 2014 and 2015.
While Trump’s threat is unlikely to lead to imminent hostage releases, we’ll be watching for any movement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, September 2, 2024.
UK suspends arms shipments to Israel over human rights concerns
The United Kingdom announced on Monday that it is suspending some arms shipments to Israel, citing a “clear risk” of violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
The decision was not based on military grounds but on the lack of food and medicine reaching the enclave, and what British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called “credible claims” of abuses of Palestinian prisoners. The suspension affects about 30 out of 350 arms export licenses, including parts for military aircraft, helicopters, drones, and ground-targeting equipment. It does not affect systems related to the F35 aircraft, crucial to Israel’s military advantage.
Lammysaid the UK still supported Israel’s right to self-defense and that Britain would continue to confront “Iranian aggression” across the Middle East. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, however, argued that the suspension sends a “problematic message” to Hamas and “its sponsors in Iran.” It could also encourage other countries to follow suit with similar suspensions.
The UK’s decision comes after a tumultuous two days of mass protests and a general strike in Israel following the discovery of six dead hostages in Gaza, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino. US President Joe Biden criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for not doing enough to secure a cease-fire that could have saved hostages’ lives. In an emotional televised address on Monday, Netanyahu begged Israelis “for your forgiveness” for not returning the hostages home alive but insisted that Israel must maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor, which he says Hamas uses to smuggle weapons into Gaza.