A deal with Hamas to release some of the Israeli hostages seized on 7 October in return for a pause in the fighting in Gaza reflects a change of course by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has adopted an uncompromising stance since the start of Israel’s worst security crisis in 50 years.
It would probably be wrong to suggest the deal represents a softening of Netanyahu’s position. He has been adamant from the beginning that Israel’s overriding aim must be to eliminate Hamas as a military and political force in Gaza. He appears wedded to that approach, on whose success his own political future hinges.
