JERUSALEM

A top Israeli daily has called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be stopped from continuing what it calls "fake negotiations" that leave Israeli captives in limbo.

In an editorial titled "Israel's Netanyahu Is the Master of Sham Negotiations," published on Saturday, Haaretz said: “The (Israeli) hostages slowly rotting in Hamas' tunnels for more than 10 months have become supporting characters in the great drama of the fluctuations in Netanyahu's position regarding the hostage deal.”

“The general public and the hostages' families in particular are trapped in a cycle of hope and disappointment: Netanyahu is ready to negotiate, Netanyahu agrees to give the Israeli delegation some rope, Netanyahu is willing to show flexibility, but suddenly Netanyahu is adding more conditions, Netanyahu says in confidential forums that it's not certain there will be a deal, the deal collapses, and then it starts all over again,” said Haaretz, adding: “Meanwhile, more and more hostages are dying.”

The newspaper also highlighted a recent conversation between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, in which Netanyahu expressed a willingness to be "flexible" over the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border. Yet shortly afterward, an Israeli political source said that Netanyahu “has not changed his position on the need for Israeli control and presence in the Philadelphi corridor.”

Just a day earlier, senior US officials said Netanyahu's positions during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are “hindering progress in the talks.” This contradicted Blinken's own statement on Monday, in which he said that Netanyahu “had fully accepted the American ‘bridging proposal’ and that the main obstacle remaining in the negotiations is Hamas' position.”

Haaretz criticized Netanyahu, calling him a "master of faking negotiations: a lot of talk but zero action.”

The newspaper warned that Netanyahu should not be allowed to continue “carrying out sham negotiations, which abandon the hostages, instigate a battle of Gog and Magog (major war) and prepare the ground for territorial expansion in the form of ‘Israeli security control’ in the Gaza Strip.”

'False hopes" while 'paving the way for chaos'

Haaretz stressed that Netanyahu “cannot be allowed to keep the public busy with false hopes of the hostages' return and at the same time gradually enabling their deaths while paving the way for chaos in the Middle East.”

The editorial concluded with a call to the public “to wake up and make it clear to the prime minister that he has no mandate to sacrifice the hostages on the altar of occupying Gaza and an all-out war.”

“The public had better wake up quickly, while some of the hostages are still alive,” it added.

Security officials, opposition members, and the families of the Israeli hostages have accused Netanyahu of obstructing a deal out of fear that his government might collapse and he could lose his position. Far-right Cabinet ministers have threatened to withdraw from the government if Netanyahu agrees to a deal that ends the war.

For nearly nine months, efforts to reach an agreement to cease-fire in Gaza and exchange prisoners have been stalled due to Netanyahu's insistence on continuing the war and maintaining military control over the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border and the Netzarim Junction between northern and southern Gaza.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip killing over 40,300 Palestinians following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi