Prime Minister Netanyahu has said he’s ready to enter talks for a more lasting ceasefire once a deal for a temporary truce is agreed – but only when Hamas lays down its arms.
He is under pressure to quickly wrap up the war with military casualties rising and with public frustration mounting at both the continued captivity of the Israelis taken on October 7, 2023, and a perceived lack of progress in the conflict.
Politically, his fragile governing coalition is holding for now, but Netanyahu is seen as beholden to a minority of far-right ministers in prolonging an increasingly unpopular conflict.
He also faces a backlash over the feasibility, cost, and ethics of a plan to build a “humanitarian city” from scratch in southern Gaza to house hundreds of thousands of Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has described the proposed facility as a “concentration camp” and Israel’s security establishment is reported to be unhappy at the plan.
