The death of the hostages increases the pressure on Netanyahu to deal with Hamas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was working “in many ways” to bring the hostages back. “I am constantly thinking about them, about their families and about their suffering,” he said in a statement – but stressed that the elimination of Hamas was still a priority despite fears for the hostages’ lives.

News of the hostages’ deaths dominated Israel’s front pages on Tuesday, and prominent columnists argued that more should have been done to save the hostages.

“Their deaths are not the result of a ‘missed opportunity.’ They are the consequences of failed, sinister, reckless governance; of pompous talk,” wrote Nadav Eyal in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily. “These findings will no longer help Nir Oz’s grandfathers and Nirim’s uncles. They died in that tunnel, waiting for the IDF that never came.”

In another daily, Maariv, columnist Ben Caspit described Netanyahu as a prime minister standing at a crossroads, ultimately forced to choose between keeping his hardline political coalition together or ending the war — a move his right-wing supporters are presenting as a victory for Hamas.

“The balls he’s been handling for so long are now falling on his head,” Caspit wrote. “He’s got to make a real decision.”

Monday’s announcements mean that more than a third of the hostages still held in Gaza are dead – 43 of the 124 confirmed dead, according to the prime minister’s office’s own figures. That number includes four hostages from 2014, two of whom are confirmed dead.

The news comes amid a flurry of confusing messages about a ceasefire proposal between Hamas and Israel. On Monday, Netanyahu told a parliamentary committee that “the claim that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is false.”

Hamas official Suheil Hindi told The Washington Post that the plan presented publicly last week by President Biden is still being discussed within the group.

The impasse in negotiations has fueled anger and discontent within Netanyahu’s government. Right-wing members of his coalition have threatened to resign and topple the government if the deal offered by Biden is accepted.

The proposal, named the Israeli proposal by the White House, filled the streets of Tel Aviv last weekend with more than 100,000 people, who were there to support and pressure the government.

The main point of contention is how and when the war will formally end. Israel has insisted it will not accept any option that ensures Hamas’ survival. Hamas has said it requires a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.

International Committee of the Red Cross warns of dangers of any additional delay in release of hostages“With each passing day, more and more hostages are dying in captivity,” it said in a post on X. “This loss of human life is not inevitable. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.”

The risk of famine has increased as Israel has made it nearly impossible for aid to reach Gaza. British poverty alleviation group Oxfam said on Monday. Two-thirds of the population are now crammed into less than a fifth of the strip, Oxfam said, adding that Israel’s “continuous air and ground bombardment and deliberate obstruction of the humanitarian response have made it almost impossible for aid agencies to reach trapped, starving civilians in Gaza.” Kerem Shalom is the only crossing currently in use, but the crossing is inside an active war zone and long delays in Israeli approval for aid mean that “missions often have to be aborted.”

United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees Said Crucial desalination plants have shut down due to fuel shortages. “People do not have enough water,” the agency said in a post on X. “Families and children travel long distances in the heat for water.” It stressed that Israeli authorities should provide water “immediately.”

At least 36,550 people have been killed and 82,959 injured in Gaza since the war began, the Gaza Health Ministry saidwhich does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 287 soldiers have been killed since its military operation in Gaza began.

Hajar Harb, Lior Soroka and Hazem Balosha contributed to this report.