Benjamin Netanyahu is not pushing for a deal to bring the hostages home more than a year after they were taken by Hamas, Israeli defense officials say.
Defense officials told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the 74-year-old Netanyahu government, which has been heavily criticized for not doing enough to rescue the hostages, is not trying to revive hostage talks.
Instead, they say, they are pushing for the gradual annexation of large swathes of territory. Gaza Strip, currently under the control of the terrorist group Hamas.
Officials told the newspaper that the chance of a hostage deal appears slim given that negotiations were suspended late last month when Hamas stopped responding to proposals brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US.
But Israel's political leadership also did not hold any discussions with any security branches about the status of the hostages.
Instead, Netanyahu has been examining a plan to block humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) is not pushing for a deal to bring the hostages home, more than a year after they were captured by Hamas
People take part in a demonstration to protest the government and show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas in Tel Aviv
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker, holds a poster of her son as the hostages' families and supporters block a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack
The plan, if implemented, could trap hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians without food or water.
Israel has issued many evacuation orders for the north during the year-long war, the most recent of which was on Sunday.
The plan proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by a group of retired generals would increase pressure, giving Palestinians a week to abandon the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, before declaring it a closed military zone.
Those who remain would be considered combatants — meaning military regulations would allow troops to kill them — and would be deprived of food, water, medicine and fuel, according to a copy of the plan given to The Associated Press by its chief architect. who claims the plan is the only way to break Hamas in the north and pressure it to release the remaining hostages.
The plan calls for Israel to maintain control over the north for an indefinite period to try to create a new administration without Hamas, dividing the Gaza Strip into two.
A young Palestinian man reacts to seeing the bodies of relatives killed in a nighttime Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip
A photo taken from the northern Israeli town of Miilya in western Galilee shows smoke rising at the Lebanese border site after an Israeli airstrike on October 13, 2024
An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel
Islamic Health Authority civil defense members work at a damaged site following what security sources said was an Israeli attack on a commercial market in Nabatieh
There has been no decision by the government to fully implement the so-called “Generals' Plan” and it is unclear to what extent it is being considered.
An official with knowledge of the matter said that parts of the plan are already being implemented, without specifying which ones.
A second official, who is Israeli, said that Netanyahu “had read and studied” the plan, “like many plans that came to him during the war”, but did not say whether any of them had been adopted.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan was not expected to be discussed publicly.
Despite the outbreak of war in the Middle East following the devastating October 7 attack carried out by Hamas, which saw 1,200 people in Israel massacred and 250 people abducted, much of Israel's attention has been on Lebanon in recent weeks.
A member of the civil defense is amid damage after what security sources said was an Israeli attack on a market, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces
People take part in a demonstration to protest the government and show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas in Tel Aviv
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system over the western Galilee region in northern Israel on October 13, 2024
Fire burns as families and supporters of hostages block a road while demanding the immediate release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack
Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas inside Israel, causing few casualties but disrupting daily life.
Meanwhile, Israel is in the midst of a serious land invasion of its neighbor.
Israel says the ground invasion, which has so far focused on a narrow strip along the border, aims to push back the militants so that tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in the north. The fighting has displaced more than a million people in Lebanon.
Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region that call themselves the Axis of Resistance against Israel. Iran launched around 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah militants.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that its response to the Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising”, without providing further details, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the US president, Joe Biden.
MailOnline has contacted the Hostage Family Forum and the US Department of State for comment.
