Yesterday was another weekly rally at Hostages Square, the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Moderator Lior Ashkenazi read from the protocol of the security cabinet that was held on Thursday evening. In the ceasefire deal with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to keep control of the Philadelphi corridor. The Philadelphi corridor is a narrow strip running along the border between Gaza and Egypt. The Gaza-Egypt border has been a major smuggling route of weapons for Hamas. Tunnels so large that cars can drive through have been discovered during Israel Defense Force (IDF) operations along the Egyptian border.
Security Cabinet Decision
Minister of defense Yoav Gallant remarked that “the significance of this is that Hamas won’t agree to it, so there won’t be an agreement and there won’t be any hostages released”. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi added: “The IDF will know how to enter and return to the Philadelphi Corridor at the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire. There are enough constraints in the talks, you don’t need to add another.” David Barnea, head of the Mossad spy agency and head of the negotiating team with Hamas, pointed out that “there is no logic to this vote right now. In any case, the negotiations are currently focused on (other issues) and not the Philadelphi Corridor”.
In the heated discussion that ensued, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer remarked that “the prime minister can do whatever he wants”. The ministers voted – except for the Defense Minister and one abstention, all chose to include the Philadelphi corridor into the demands for a ceasefire deal.
What followed
Fast forward Sunday morning. After identifying the victims, the IDF released the names of the hostage bodies they found the day before: Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Alexander Lobanov (32), Carmel Gat (40), Almog Sarusi (27), Eden Yerushalmi (24), and Ori Danino (25). They all had been killed just a day or two before. Hamas didn’t want to give the IDF a chance to rescue hostages. So they murdered them.
Days before that the IDF managed to rescue Kaid Farhan Elkadi, a Bedouin Arab from Rahat. He joined the other 7 hostages that had been rescued by IDF military operations. 109 hostages had been returned in a ceasefire and hostage / prisoner swap last year.
Today evening large protests ensued throughout the country. At least half a million protesters, probably more, gathered in Tel Aviv near the Defense Ministry. Everywhere around the streets were crammed with demonstrators, many carrying flags.
I’ve seen Rachel Goldberg-Polin on several occasions. Like I have met with other relatives of hostages. The stories are heartbreaking. The suffering of these people is indescribable. My deepest condolences to the families and friends of the murdered hostages.
General Strike for a Hostage Deal
Tomorrow will be a countrywide strike – schools will be closed, no public transport, etc. This is the first time that Union leader Arnon Bar-David calls for a general strike in support of a hostage deal. It’s so sad that the six hostages recovered dead can’t benefit from it. Strikes had been called for even before the war when the government went on a judicial overhaul campaign. That judicial overhaul was feared to change the essence of Israel as a democratic and liberal state.
It remains to be seen how things develop. Opposition leader Yair Lapid predicted in a recent interview that the Netanyahu government will fall in November/December. Right now the nation is under shock from the news of the recovered hostage bodies – all young people. More so because they were still alive when the Israeli security cabinet prioritized the Philadelphi corridor in the hostage talks.