Israel mourns slain hostages, protests Netanyahu
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to demand a Gaza hostage release
What happened
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets over the last two days to demand a deal to release hostages held in Gaza and mourn the six Israelis found dead in a Hamas tunnel over the weekend. Israel said the six hostages were shot at close range last week, shortly before Israeli troops reached the tunnel. The protesters blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for stalling a hostage deal. Israel's largest labor union also held a truncated general strike yesterday.
Who said what
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, eulogizing Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin at his funeral yesterday, apologized "on behalf of the state of Israel" for failing to protect him on Oct. 7 and for failing to "bring you home safely." Netanyahu, in a press conference yesterday evening, asked "forgiveness" from the families of the six slain hostages but said he won't give up his insistence that Israel's military indefinitely occupy the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Netanyahu's Philadelphi demand "appeared to dim, if not dash, prospects for a truce," The New York Times said, and sparked an open conflict with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu and Gallant got in a "shouting match" at a security cabinet meeting last week, The Associated Press said. Gallant, who cast the lone vote against Netanyahu's plan to maintain control over the corridor, urged the cabinet to reconsider two days ago.
What next?
President Joe Biden — who said "no" when asked yesterday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a Gaza deal — met with his negotiating team on a "take it or leave it" deal for Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu "seems to believe he can ride out the demands for a deal being made from the street, at least for now," the BBC said. "But the demands from his own defense minister, from the U.S. president, could prove harder to ignore."
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