Israel
Israel Briefing Day 525: New Gaza ceasefire proposal on the table
Plus, Israel faces international criticism and internal political tensions, with a growing focus on hostage and prisoner exchange
March 14, 2025 09:08
By, In Israel
4 min read
Plus, Israel faces international criticism and internal political tensions, with a growing focus on hostage and prisoner exchange
March 14, 2025 09:08ByNathan Jeffay, In Israel
This story first appeared as today’s Israel briefing newsletter. You can sign up to receive it daily here.
There is a new proposal for extending the Gaza ceasefire on the table at negotiations in Doha, Axios reported yesterday. It would involve Hamas releasing at least five living hostages and the remains of around nine deceased hostages on the first day of the extension. Previously, the US had been proposing 10 living hostages and 18 deceased. According to Axios, Israel is open to the new proposal and Hamas is yet to respond. A source was cited noting that “Hamas had rejected similar proposals before, but saying that the group’s leaders “also want to avoid going back to fighting during Ramadan,” a source told Axios.
A second proposal is also under discussion according to reports. This would involve the release of a small number of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire extension of 42 to 60 days, and renewed humanitarian aid. Hostage families are expressing concern over any proposals that fail to return all hostages. The hostages campaign said that “the idea of freeing only a handful of hostages raises fears that many will remain in captivity indefinitely.”
In related development, Hamas is accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement by keeping troops in the Philadelphi Corridor. Israel claims it needs control over the corridor to prevent smuggling into the Palestinian territory from Egypt.
A United Nations report has accused Israel of “genocidal acts” against Palestinians by trying to interfere with reproductive medicine health facilities. Israel responded with outrage, calling the report by the “one of the worst cases of blood libel the world has ever seen.”
The report, by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, claimed that “Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, including by imposing measures intended to prevent births, one of the categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.” It specifically cited the destruction of Al-Basma IVF Centre, Gaza’s main in-vitro fertility clinic, where 4,000 embryos were lost.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the UN Human Rights Council “an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.”
The Foreign Ministry accused the UN of “falsifying history” and ignoring Hamas atrocities.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Daniel Meron said the report was “yet another example of the blood libel that actors within the UN perpetuate against Israel.”
Women’s rights groups condemned the report for ignoring Israeli victims and drawing false comparisons between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli warplanes struck a terrorist command centre in Syria yesterday. “The command centre was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against the State of Israel,” the ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israel struck Hezbollah sites yesterday, including one that is used for manufacturing and storing weapons. On the Jordanian border, the IDF shot dead two people who were trying to infiltrate Israel.
Israel has sent 10,000 food packages to Syria, for communities from the Druze minority, including staple foods like flour. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who initiated the effort, described it as part of a regional alliance between Israel; and minority groups. “We have a courageous alliance with our Druze brothers,” he stated. “It is a privilege to help them.”
It is Purim today, and as per tradition, huge numbers of Israelis are in fancy dress. Batman is an especially popular costume this year, as some people are merging Purim joy with a poignant tribute to Ariel Bibas, one of the children murdered by Hamas. A widely distributed photo showed him in a Batman outfit. Fancy dress shops offered cut-price Batman outfits to encourage the tribute. In related news, there was a mass reading of the Book of Esther in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, the epicentre of the hostage campaign, last night.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has agreed to dissolve his New Hope party and rejoin Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. He bolted the party in 2020 amid frictions with Netanyahu and said that the party was “a cult of personality” around the PM. Yesterday he rejoined Likud, posting on X saying that “our differences, in the eyes of history, will look like insignificant nuances.”
Haaretz has published an investigation claiming that Israeli President Isaac Herzog attempted to influence the criminal proceedings against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the report, on two occasions Herzog pushed for mediation in Netanyahu’s trial, which could have led to a plea deal and shortened legal proceedings. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara rejected both attempts, believing they were meant to delay the trial. Haaretz stated that the President’s Office and the Justice Ministry declined to comment.
For the first time, Israel has invited right-wing European politicians to a national event. French far-right leader Jordan Bardella will attend the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, hosted by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry. Other invitees include members of Spain’s Vox party, Sweden Democrats, and Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party. Jewish organisations in Europe shun the far-right.
A masked Palestinian assaulted a Jewish Israeli yesterday in the West Bank. Police reported that the victim was attacked with stones and a club, leaving him injured. The victim was a settler from the outpost of Givat Mikne Avraham.
Terrorists have reportedly asked for $200 million to free an Israeli-Russian woman, Elizabeth Tsurkov, who has been kidnapped in Iraq since 2023. Asharq Al-Awsat reported yesterday that her captors from the Kataib Hezbollah pro-Iranian terror group asked for the ransom and the release of pro-Iranian prisoners in the US, but America refused, partly because it feared the money would flow back to Iran and embolden its terror activities.
Three African countries have been approached by Israel and the US about possibly becoming destinations for Gazans, according to Associated Press. The countries were named as Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland.
A former Shin Bet chief, Nadav Argaman, gave a bombshell interview yesterday, suggesting that he may reveal politically explosive information about the prime minister if he does not change path.
The remarks come amid major tensions between Netanyahu and Israel’s security establishment. In an interview with Channel 12, Argaman expressed anger over what he perceives as Netanyahu’s attempts to deflect blame from his government on to security officials.
Argaman’s Warning – The former Shin Bet chief said he has classified information and could expose Netanyahu’s actions if the prime minister acts unlawfully.
Netanyahu’s Attack – Netanyahu accused Argaman of leading a “blackmail campaign” against him. He claimed that such threats were unprecedented in Israeli democracy.
The US hostage envoy who talked to Hamas, Adam Boehler, has been removed from the Gaza file, Jewish Insider reported. Boehler faced criticism for the direct talks with Hamas.