Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz offers political truce to help secure Gaza hostage deal

 Former defence minister Benny Gantz on Saturday offered to join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a unity government to help secure the release of hostages held in Gaza. Reliant on far-right allies to remain in power, Netanyahu has launched a renewed military assault on famine-stricken Gaza City to put pressure on Hamas, who last week accepted a ceasefire proposal involving the freeing of half of the remaining hostages in exchange for the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israeli former defence minister Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forge a unity government along with members of the opposition in a bid to help release the hostages held in Gaza.

Netanyahu's coalition government depends on support from far-right members who oppose ending the war and making any deal with Palestinian group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

Gantz, a rival of Netanyahu who nonetheless joined his government in the early days of the war, proposed a temporary coalition that would side-step far-right parties and strike a hostage release deal.

"I am here on behalf of the hostages who have no voice. I am here for the soldiers who are crying out, and whom no one in this government is listening to," Gantz told a televised press conference.

"The duty of our state is first and foremost to save the lives of Jews and all citizens," Gantz added, calling on fellow opposition party leaders Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman to also consider the offer.

Both opposition chief Lapid and Lieberman have previously rejected joining any Netanyahu-led government.

Netanyahu's coalition faces a risk of collapse after the parliament's summer recess ends, following the loss of support from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties over legislation seeking to draft students of religious seminaries into the military.

Growing protests

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of Netanyahu's ruling coalition who could be sidelined if Gantz's plan succeeds, was quick to dismiss it.

"Right-wing voters chose a right-wing policy – not Gantz's policy, not a centrist government, not surrender deals with Hamas, but yes to absolute victory," Ben Gvir said in a statement.

The government has faced increasing domestic pressure to secure an end to the war in Gaza, with mass protests calling for a deal that would see the hostages released.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu said he had ordered negotiations aimed at freeing the remaining hostages, adding that the diplomatic push would accompany a new offensive to take control of Gaza City.

The plan to expand the offensive in Gaza, which Netanyahu's security cabinet approved earlier this month, has been met with opposition in Israel over concerns for the fate of the hostages.

It has also sparked fears that the onslaught would exacerbate already dire conditions on the ground after more than 22 months of war.

The UN officially declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming the "systematic obstruction" of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine was affecting 500,000 people in Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory including Gaza City.

Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday that Israel would destroy Gaza City as it has other parts of the territory if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel's terms.

Hamas has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the war, but it rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.

Residents of Gaza City said the Israeli strikes targeting the area had been relentless for days. 

International mediators have been waiting for days for an Israeli response to their latest ceasefire proposal, which Hamas accepted last week.

On Saturday thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv.

Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod is held in Gaza, said that "instead of saving lives, Netanyahu is sentencing the living hostages to death and causing the fallen to be lost forever".

Out of 251 hostages seized during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.