Netanyahu, who heads one of the crucial right-wing governments in Israeli historical past, has invited opposition leaders to affix a unity authorities, in search of to broaden assist for any response.
For Netanyahu, securing the liberty of hostages comes with painful private recollections. In 1976, his older brother was killed rescuing hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda, an motion the youthful Netanyahu mentioned formed his future life.
Lt Col Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu led an assault crew of 29 commandos who stormed the airport terminal to rescue Israelis and others from an Air France flight that had been diverted to Uganda by Palestinian and German hijackers.
In an earlier incident in 1972, Israeli Olympic crew members had been taken hostage on the athletes’ village in Munich by Palestinian gunmen from the Black September group. Inside 24 hours, 11 Israelis, 5 Palestinians and a German policeman had been useless after a rescue effort erupted into gunfire.
Israel responded by sending brokers to kill the boys it thought of masterminded the assault, in an alleged covert operation that lasted years. A number of Palestinians had been assassinated in numerous areas in Europe and the Center East.
NEW SCALE OF CHALLENGE
Gaza presents a special scale of problem. In an extended profession, Netanyahu has proven little urge for food for floor campaigns and Gaza could be a messy place to wage struggle, with greater than 2 million individuals crammed right into a tiny strip of land run by Hamas, which has been in management since a short struggle with safety forces loyal to West Financial institution-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
Ariel Sharon, a veteran of the 1973 struggle and prime minister when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, referred to as the Israeli withdrawal painful however mentioned retaining maintain of such a densely populated space was too troublesome.
Netanyahu may comply with a extra acquainted technique of assassinating Hamas leaders with air strikes and bombs. Some of the high-profile operations was the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, religious chief of Hamas, in a helicopter missile strike in 2004. However such strikes haven’t dislodged Hamas.
Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri informed Al Jazeera the group now had a lot of Israeli captives – Hamas has not given any numbers up to now – saying there have been sufficient to safe the discharge of all Palestinians prisoners.
The Palestinian Prisoners Affiliation places the quantity held in Israeli jails at about 5,250.
If Israel agreed to releasing all of them, it might be an enormous win for Hamas and different militant teams – and for that purpose be a politically troublesome discount to make for Netanyahu or any Israeli chief.
But, Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Center East Heart mentioned negotiations appeared the one clear method ahead.
“It doesn’t matter what sort of ache he inflicts on the Palestinians – by way of bombing buildings or assassinating its leaders in Gaza – this won’t diminish from what Hamas has inflicted on Israel,” he mentioned.