Gabriel B
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Middle East - September 01, 2024

Middle East - September 01, 2024

Sep 02, 2024

The deaths of six hostages have caused a massive uproar within Israel. Reportedly, the six were alive until the operation to rescue them took place, at which point Hamas executed them. Hamas has made it clear in the past that they will do this in order to disincentivize Israel from trying to rescue the hostages, but Israel has previously managed to rescue some of the hostages regardless.

As a result of their killing by Hamas, popular perception in Israel is that Netanyahu has mishandled the situation. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to protest his handling of the war, and a large union has called for a general strike to commence tomorrow. Their demand is that Netanyahu agree to a ceasefire which would see the safe return of the remaining hostages. These protests were reportedly the largest ones so far, and thus pose a new degree of danger to Netanyahu's rule. Meanwhile, Gallant is continuing to stand alone in Netanyahu's cabinet by calling for some sort of deal. Gallant, it should be noted, had an international warrant for his arrest by the International Criminal Court's prosecution team given his role in overseeing Israeli operations in Gaza. He earlier this year even claimed that Israel had no moral right to agree to a ceasefire. His about-face has certainly been interesting to observe.

The United States has once again reiterated that a ceasefire should be implemented. Further talks with regional partners are planned for this week. Like the prior talks, I don't expect these ones to go anywhere either, unless Netanyahu feels enough domestic pressure to change course.

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