DaysofPal- An Israeli TV investigation has revealed that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked seven proposed ceasefire agreements with Hamas since Israel launched the Gaza genocide in October 2023.
According to Channel 13’s HaMoker program, senior U.S. and Israeli officials said Netanyahu was the main obstacle, frequently yielding to pressure from far-right figures such as Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller noted that Hamas had expressed willingness to release Israeli prisoners at the start of the conflict.
However, he said Washington’s efforts to persuade the Israeli government were ignored, as officials there “did not take us seriously.”
A member of the Israeli negotiating team told the channel that people close to Netanyahu insisted, “There will be no deal. They deserve death.”
At the time, Israeli war minister Yoav Gallant ordered his staff not to engage with Hamas, declaring that the militants should only come forward after the Israeli military campaign had suffocated them.
Gadi Eisenkot, a war cabinet member, criticized the government’s inaction, pointing out that freeing the Israeli prisoners was never listed among the war’s official objectives.
He added that even the November 2023 ceasefire was delayed due to obstacles raised by Netanyahu and Gallant.
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