Faced With an Impossible Dilemma, Will Israel Take a Partial Deal or Fight Hamas to the Bitter End?
Israel faces growing internal and international pressure as it weighs a partial ceasefire deal with Hamas against the risks of a Gaza City invasion
Israel is facing a major predicament as the Hamas terrorist organization has reportedly accepted the terms of an Egyptian proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the war on Gaza.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shifted Israel’s stance and demanded the release of all 50 remaining hostages at once. The move coincided with Netanyahu’s declaration that Israel intends to occupy Gaza City and other areas of the territory in an effort to ratchet up pressure on the group.
There is one conclusion from these reports—Hamas is under atomic pressure
While visiting soldiers on the Gaza border on Monday, Netanyahu addressed the reports. “Like you, I am hearing the reports on the media,” he said. “There is one conclusion from these reports—Hamas is under atomic pressure.”
Governments worldwide were quick to condemn Israel’s announcement. Several declared sanctions against Israel and its officials. Inside Israel, opposition parties staged demonstrations, warning the plan would endanger the 20 hostages still believed to be alive and held in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023.
Hamas’ earlier willingness to consider a partial deal—releasing half of the hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire—has complicated matters. Netanyahu must now decide whether to reject such a deal and gamble that occupying Gaza City will force Hamas’ surrender. Families of the hostages are also split. Some believe intensified military pressure will bring their loved ones home; others fear it could doom them to death inside tunnels beneath the city.
Israel needs to decide which of the clocks that are ticking is the one that puts it under the most pressure
“Israel needs to decide which of the clocks that are ticking is the one that puts it under the most pressure,” Dr. Avner Saar, a crisis-negotiation expert and lecturer at Western Galilee College, told The Media Line. “There is pressure to save lives, there is internal pressure in Israel with a growing internal rift, and there is growing international pressure both from European countries and the US to end the war.”
“Israel needs to find the balance and make decisions based on the strategy it has decided to adopt,” Saar added.
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Unnamed Israeli officials told local media Tuesday that Israel’s position has not changed. The government continues to seek a full deal that includes Hamas’ leadership being exiled from Gaza and the group’s complete disarmament.
That stance received support from US President Donald Trump on Monday. “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” he posted on social media.
Netanyahu, at least publicly, has not ruled out a partial deal. Senior coalition members accuse him of avoiding a clear stance, claiming he is using the threat of escalation to extract concessions. Reports suggest a partial agreement would see the remaining 10 hostages released in a second phase, followed by negotiations for a permanent end to the war.
Hamas sees the Israeli army rolling into Gaza City and they are suddenly willing to negotiate a partial deal, but this is a death trap
“Israel is stuttering and Netanyahu has been unclear, not saying unequivocally that a partial deal will not happen,” Betty Lahav, a former senior official in Israel’s Prison Service who commanded maximum-security prisons and led intelligence operations, told The Media Line. “Hamas sees the Israeli army rolling into Gaza City and they are suddenly willing to negotiate a partial deal, but this is a death trap that will cost Israel the lives of many soldiers and sentence the remaining hostages to death.”
Hamas’ October 7, 2023, surprise attack prompted Israel’s all-out war against the group. In addition to killing about 1,200 Israelis, Hamas seized roughly 250 hostages, many of them civilians.
Since then, Israel has launched a few daring rescue missions, freeing eight living hostages and recovering 46 bodies. Most releases, though, came through negotiations linked to temporary ceasefires. Fifty hostages remain unaccounted for, with many presumed dead.
A fragile ceasefire, brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar earlier this year, collapsed in March when the first phase expired. The second phase—meant to end the war with a full Israeli withdrawal and the release of all hostages—never materialized as the sides failed to agree on terms.
Gaza has borne the brunt of the war. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, nearly 62,000 Palestinians have been killed. UN data says most homes have been destroyed and more than one million people displaced. Israel’s military operations have ebbed and flowed, but preparations are now underway to capture Gaza City.
“Gaza City is Hamas’ most valuable strategic asset,” Ido Zelkovitz, head of the Middle Eastern Studies program at Yezreel Valley College and a research fellow at the University of Haifa, told The Media Line. “It is where its vast underground tunnel network runs the war effort and serves as the center of its financial and social activities.”
According to Zelkovitz, Hamas fears the city will be destroyed, both above and below ground. “This is why Hamas is back at the negotiating table,” he explained. “But Hamas will never release all of the hostages because this will be the end of it. Israel’s strategic decision after October 7 is to completely destroy Hamas’ abilities and never allow it to be on its borders again.”
Capturing Gaza City comes with enormous risks. Many of the surviving hostages are believed to be held there, while Hamas has likely prepared the area with explosives, anticipating an Israeli assault.
Throughout negotiations, Israel has insisted on keeping a security perimeter inside Gaza. Hamas rejects any Israeli presence once the war ends. So far, only partial agreements have been possible, delaying the broader clash over Gaza’s future.
“History has taught us that once deals collapse, the sides harden their positions,” Saar said. “I am inclined to say Israel should prefer a full-package deal that will end the war, because otherwise the process down the road will be even harder, with all the pressures increasing.”
“First and foremost, this is unfair to the hostages and their families and if a phased deal is reached, it will only get harder every step of the way,” he added.
Protests broke out this week as thousands of Israelis demanded an immediate halt to the war, saying it is the only way to secure the hostages’ release. Counterdemonstrators accused them of showing weakness in the face of Hamas.
“Hamas is never going to surrender and there is no chance it will release every single hostage,” said Lahav, who also served as a senior officer in Israel’s Civil Administration in Gaza before the 2005 withdrawal. “Hamas knows how to exploit Israel’s soft spots, and the public unfortunately falls victim to this.”
Netanyahu’s record on prisoner deals continues to shadow him. In 2011, he agreed to a controversial exchange: one Israeli soldier for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader and mastermind of the October 7 attack, who was later assassinated. With pressure mounting at home and abroad, Netanyahu may again opt for an interim deal and postpone the operation in Gaza City.
For Hamas, the hostages remain its strongest weapon. Israel must now decide whether to press forward militarily or cut a deal that risks leaving the war unresolved.
