Report: Netanyahu Blocked Halevi’s One-Phase Plan to End War and Free Hostages

Kan 11 News reported Friday that in May 2024, the IDF and then-Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi tried to convince Israel’s political leadership to adopt an agreement that would secure the release of all hostages. The proposal, they argued, would remove operational restrictions and allow the military to deliver a decisive blow to Hamas in Gaza.

The report stated that in the months before the entry into Rafah, Halevi pushed for a single-stage plan that aimed to both bring home the hostages and conclude the war.

A team from the Operations and Strategic Divisions reportedly prepared multiple scenarios to demonstrate how Hamas could be defeated following such a deal. The thinking was that once every hostage was safely back, the army would have far greater freedom to destroy Hamas. However, the political leaders rejected the idea outright.

The report added that during a small cabinet discussion where Halevi presented the plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed it, allegedly describing it as a “defeat.” According to those with knowledge of the meeting, the initiative was blocked so quickly that it was never even passed on to the negotiation team for review.

Instead, the plan that was approved in May 2024 followed a phased model. It stipulated that both the return of all hostages and the conclusion of the war would only occur once the full process was carried out. While this was the framework accepted, Netanyahu’s choice to halt the second phase meant the stage that was supposed to guarantee the release of all remaining hostages never went forward.

Netanyahu has since reiterated that the government’s approach is to seek only a complete agreement with Hamas, rejecting any partial deals.

“We will agree to a deal in which all hostages are released in one go and in accordance with our terms for ending the war,” the Prime Minister’s office said last month.

The outlined requirements include: the dismantling of Hamas’ weapons stockpiles, full demilitarization of Gaza, Israel retaining security control of the border area, and the creation of a new governing body in Gaza that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority and that will maintain peaceful relations with Israel.

This week, as the IDF prepared to launch a campaign to capture Gaza City, Hamas announced it was ready to consider a broad agreement involving both the release of all hostages and the end of fighting. Yet the group repeated its earlier preconditions, which Israel has made clear it cannot accept.

Defense Minister Israel Katz rejected Hamas’ claim. “Hamas continues to close its eyes and utter empty words, but it will soon realize that it must choose between two options: accept Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and disarmament, or Gaza will become equivalent to Rafah and Beit Hanoun.”

“The IDF is preparing at full strength,” Katz added.

The Prime Minister’s Office also responded: “Unfortunately, this is more spin by Hamas that has nothing new.

The war could end immediately on the conditions set by the Security Cabinet:

1. All hostages are released.

2. Hamas is disarmed.

3. The Strip is demilitarized.

4. Israel has security control in the Strip.

5. An alternative civil administration is established that does not educate for terrorism, dispatch terrorists or threaten Israel.

Only these conditions will prevent Hamas from rearming and returning to the massacre of October 7 again and again as it has promised.”

{Matzav.com Israel}