As the Israeli government stalls on the Gaza ceasefire deal agreed between it and the Palestinian group Hamas, delaying progression to phase two of the agreement, protesters gathered outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Sunday night.
Yes, they were angry at his decision to unilaterally extend phase one of the deal, and frustrated at his delays in fully implementing the agreement, brokered in January.
But their banners and slogans had no references to the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, after Israel on Sunday blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Instead, the focus was on the Israeli captives left behind in Gaza as Netanyahu drags his feet, seemingly focused on finding a way to avoid ending the war.
The Israeli government’s actions on Sunday seemed to point in the direction of an end to the ceasefire and a resumption of all-out war on Gaza, even as the captives remain there.
Although phase one of the ceasefire expired on Saturday, the agreement had stipulated that the terms of the truce – including the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza – would continue while negotiations for phase two continued.
However, Israel announced on Sunday the emergence of a “Witkoff plan” – referring to United States Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff – that would see half of the captives released immediately and the other half after an agreement on a permanent ceasefire, essentially throwing away the original ceasefire deal.
Israel used the opportunity of the deal – which neither the US nor Witkoff himself have confirmed the existence of – to reinstate its blockade of Gaza, sending food prices skyrocketing there.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the aid blockade carried “devastating consequences” for children and families in Gaza battered by 16 months of war.
Collective punishment is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, Professor Gerry Simpson of the London School of Economics told Al Jazeera, irrespective of who was enforcing it.
“The fact that it is being phrased as a form of punishment suggests a certain disregard for the laws of war, but that disregard does not render these laws null or unimportant,” he said.
In addition to the suspension of aid, the Israeli government is also mulling approval of a bill that would allow it to call up 400,000 of its reserve soldiers in anticipation of renewed conflict in Gaza.
In the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 300,000 reserve soldiers were called up, the largest mobilisation in Israel’s history at the time.
Angry families
While Israeli public anger towards Netanyahu over the current breakdown in negotiations is not yet widespread, former ambassador and consul general of Israel in New York, Alon Pinkas, told Al Jazeera that it was likely to grow if the impasse continued, until it became “clear that he’s [Netanyahu] looking for a pretext to break the ceasefire and thus condemn hostages to death”.
The fate of the 251 or so captives taken prisoner during the October 7 attack has represented a throughline in Israeli public criticism of its prime minister.
However, recent weeks – where images of captives returning to their families have dominated the media – have in turn elevated the voices of their families, who are often critical of Netanyahu.
Those protesting outside of Netanyahu’s residence on Sunday night, led by the families of the captives, made it clear that they felt the prime minister was to blame for the impasse in completing the ceasefire agreement.
At a press conference held by a number of the captives’ families earlier the same day, Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri Miran remains in Gaza, rejected the claims by some members of Israel’s cabinet, including Netanyahu, that no agreement is possible while Hamas remains in existence, telling reporters, “Hostages immediately, Hamas afterwards”.
“Netanyahu knows he doesn’t have a monopoly over the narrative right now,” Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said, “so there’s a risk that, with this delay, he could find himself under increased fire from the hostages’ families, which have a lot of public sympathy”.
Goldberg suggested that this, among other factors tied directly to Netanyahu’s political survival, may limit how long the current impasse can continue.
Bad faith
Scepticism over Netanyahu’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement is not new. Since its inception, the prime minister has hinted at his willingness to break the agreement in order to placate its critics, while also using the ceasefire’s existence to reassure the captives’ families and their supporters.
In January, Netanyahu signalled his intention to break the agreement when negotiating with his hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to remain in the cabinet and not join fellow far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in resigning his post over the prospect of reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
As part of his deal with Smotrich, Netanyahu was reported to have assured the finance minister that the ceasefire was temporary and that military operations in Gaza would resume aimed at dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities once the “temporary” truce was over.
Negotiations on a permanent ceasefire were slated to be included in the second stage.
“People don’t really trust Netanyahu,” analyst Nimrod Flashenberg said from Tel Aviv. “A lot of the public doubted that the ceasefire would hold from the start, but we really don’t know what will happen next. A lot of that depends upon the [US President Donald] Trump administration.”
For many observers, everything from the delay in progressing to the second stage of the ceasefire deal to the ambiguity over who suggested its suspension was typical of a prime minister who had profited from sowing confusion among his critics for years.
“This is what he does,” Goldberg said. “It’s what everyone in Israel expects of him. Politically, there’s no reason for it. He has no political rivals; he has the settlers on [his] side. It’s just what he does.”
“For Netanyahu, these byzantine schemes are essential to keeping the Israeli ship of state on course,” he said.
“What public criticism there is of Netanyahu isn’t on the grounds that he’s withholding aid or blocking negotiations, it’s that he’s doing it badly: he’s selling it wrong,” Goldberg said. “They feel, if they had someone else in charge, they could cut the aid to Gaza and win applause for doing so.”