Israel’s Netanyahu gambles on Gaza cease-fire with new conditions

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Jul 18, 2024

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration calling for a hostage deal with Hamas. — Protesters hold signs during a demonstration calling for a hostage deal with Hamas and against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government on June 1, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. — Amir Levy/Getty Images

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WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to ramp up the pressure on Hamas, even as he faces growing calls to take a deal to free the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

“The key is pressure, pressure and more pressure,” Netanyahu said in a speech to the Knesset Wednesday. “As long as we keep pressuring them, Hamas will give up more and more” in the negotiations.

The prime minister has hardened some of Israel’s positions on what’s required for a deal, including by insisting that Israeli troops retain control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as well as the Philadelphi Corridor border area that Hamas has long used for smuggling. Netanyahu also called for a mechanism to prevent Hamas fighters from returning along with displaced residents to northern Gaza.