Benjamin Netanyahu is not pushing for a deal to bring the hostages home, more than a year after they were taken by Hamas, Israeli defence officials say.
Defence officials told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the government under 74-year-old Netanyahu, who has been heavily criticised for not doing enough to rescue the hostages, is not seeking to revive hostage talks.
Instead, they say, they are pushing for the gradual annexation of large swathes of the Gaza Strip, currently under the control of terror group Hamas.
Officials told the newspaper that the chance of a hostage deal appears slim, given that since negotiations were suspended late last month when Hamas stopped responding to proposals brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US.
But Israel’s political leadership has also not held any discussions with any security branches about how the hostages are doing.
Instead, Netanyahu has been examining a plan to seal off 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 taken by Hamas
People attend a demonstration to protest against the government and to 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 up a poster of her son as families and supporters of hostages block a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of 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 throughout the yearlong war, the most recent of which was Sunday.
The plan proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by a group of retired generals would escalate the pressure, giving Palestinians a week to leave 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 denied food, water, medicine and fuel, according to a copy of the plan given to the Associated Press by its chief architect, who says 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 attempt to create a new administration without Hamas, splitting the Gaza Strip in two.
A Palestinian youth reacts upon seeing the bodies of relatives killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip
A picture taken from northern Israeli town of Miilya in the western Galilee shows smoke billowing on the Lebanese site of the border following an Israeli airstrike on October 13, 2024
An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel
Civil defence members of the Islamic Health Authority work at a damaged site in the aftermath of what security sources said was an Israeli strike on a commercial market in Nabatieh
There has been no decision by the government to fully carry out the so-called ‘Generals’ Plan,’ and it is unclear how strongly it is being considered.
One official with knowledge of the matter said parts of the plan are already being implemented, without specifying which parts.
A second official, who is Israeli, said Netanyahu ‘had read and studied’ the plan, ‘like many plans that have reached him throughout the war,’ but did not say whether any of it had been adopted.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is not supposed to be discussed publicly.
A spokesperson for the Hostage Families Forum, which is lobbying for the safe return of those taken by Hamas, told MailOnline: ‘While Hamas bears responsibility for this atrocity, we expect our prime minister and government to exhaust every possibility to bring our loved ones home.
‘Israel’s leaders should accept any viable deal offered. We can only say Netanyahu has done enough when all hostages are safely back home.’
Though the outbreak of war in the Middle East, following the devastating October 7 attack by Hamas which saw 1,200 people in Israel slaughtered and 250 people get kidnapped, much of Israel’s focus has been on Lebanon in the last few weeks.
A civil defence member stands amid damage in the aftermath of what security sources said was an Israeli strike on a market, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces
People attend a demonstration to protest against the government and to 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 defence system over the western Galilee region in northern Israel on October 13, 2024
Fire blazes as families and supporters of hostages block a road as they demand the immediate release of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack
Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas deeper inside Israel, causing few casualties but disrupting daily life.
Israel, meanwhile, is in the midst of a serious ground invasion of its neighbour.
Israel says the ground invasion, which has so far focused on a narrow strip along the border, is aimed at pushing the militants back so that tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in the north. The fighting has displaced over a million people in Lebanon.
Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region that refer to themselves as the Axis of Resistance against Israel. Iran launched some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah militants.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said 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 U.S. President Joe Biden.
MailOnline has the US State Department for comment.
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