For months, Israelis had only heard of hostages being killed or declared dead in Gaza. The “lucky” families were those whose remains of their loved ones were recovered by soldiers, at great risk, and taken to Israel for burial.
So Saturday’s daring rescue of four live hostages instantly boosted morale in Israel and offered a momentary victory, at least, for the country’s embattled Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
But on Sunday the euphoria was already giving way to a harsh reality. The intense air and ground attack that accompanied the rescue killed dozens of Palestinians, including civilians, according to Gaza health officials. And the operation failed to resolve any of the deep dilemmas and challenges plaguing the Israeli government.
Eight months into its devastating war in Gaza, Israel still appears far from achieving its stated goals of dismantling Hamas’s military and governance capabilities. And Israelis fear time is running out for many of the hostages in Gaza. About a third of the 120 remaining have already been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
At the same time, Israel’s leadership is grappling with an escalation of hostilities along the northern border with Lebanon and fighting growing international isolation and opprobrium over the war in Gaza, including accusations of genocide that are being heard. by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. .
The rescue mission “does not solve a single one of the problems Israel has been facing since October 7,” Nahum Barnea, a prominent Israeli political columnist, wrote in Sunday’s popular Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
“It does not solve the problem in the north; it does not solve the problem in Gaza; and it does not solve the host of other problems that threaten Israel internationally,” he added.
Meanwhile, the stability of Netanyahu’s government is at stake.
Pressure has increased on the government to reach an agreement with Hamas for the release of all remaining hostages. But the fate of the Israeli proposal for a truce and exchange of hostages and prisoners, as outlined by President Biden more than a week ago, remains uncertain. The Biden administration and Israeli officials say they are still waiting for a formal response from Hamas to determine whether negotiations can resume.
Israelis are now debating whether the hostage rescue operation will help or hinder the prospects of such a deal, one that, if it goes ahead, could threaten Netanyahu’s power, with the far-right in his ruling coalition vowing to resign and bring down his government.
The rescue of the four hostages would likely bolster the arguments of those who say that Israeli military pressure on Hamas and continued ground operations in Gaza are necessary to bring the rest of the hostages home.
But for many Israelis and relatives of the dozens of remaining hostages, the return of just four crystallized the obvious: that such complex military operations can probably only reach a few of them and carry great risks and costs, both for the military and for the community. civilian population in Gaza.
The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, made this clear in a briefing with reporters on Saturday, saying of the remaining hostages: “We know that we cannot carry out operations to rescue them all because there are not always the conditions that allow it.” The largest number of hostages released (more than one hundred) were released under a previous temporary ceasefire agreement.
And for Hamas, which lost four of its remaining bargaining chips on Saturday, the deadly Israeli operation could harden its position. The group hinted that the rescue operation could make things worse for the remaining captives.
“The operation will pose great danger to the enemy’s prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives,” spokesman for the group’s military wing, Abu Obeida, said in a statement on Saturday.
Experts said some of the remaining hostages could now be moved from above-ground civilian apartment buildings, like those that housed the four who were rescued on Saturday, to underground tunnels where they will be harder to reach.