U.S. President Donald Trump has again changed the rules of the game by demanding that Hamas free the hostages in Gaza by Saturday, Feb. 15. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu must now decide if the Israel Defense Forces will follow through with Trump’s ultimatum or settle for a compromise to keep the ceasefire alive.
It remains to be seen how Israel will approach the impossible choice between freeing more hostages or ending the ceasefire and destroying Hamas. It’s almost certain that Hamas will never free all of them and disband on their own, as the ceasefire demands.
Join JNS senior contributing editor Ruthie Blum and Mark Regev, former Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom—both former advisers at the Prime Minister’s Office—for an in-depth discussion of this difficult decision facing Netanyahu.
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