Gaza: Israeli PM Netanyahu offers $5m reward for freed hostages
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered $5m and ticket out of war-ravaged Gaza to anyone who releases an Israeli captive held by Hamas, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
On November 19th, Netanyahu announced the reward during a visit to the Netzarim Corridor – the major access road and military checkpoint constructed by Israeli forces to split Gaza north to south.
According to Al-Jazeera, he said: “To those who want to leave this maze, I say: Whoever brings us a hostage, will find a safe way out for himself and his family. We will also give $5m for every hostage.”
“The choice is yours but the result will be the same: We will bring them all back.”
READ: Gaza: Israeli forces kill at least 15 Palestinians
This offer comes as the pressure to find the captives is mounting in domestically, with mass protests continuing in Israel, led by the families of the hostages and their supporters.
They believe Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to secure the release of the 101 captives, one third of which are thought to be dead, that remain in Gaza.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said that military action is the only way to rescue the hostages and critics of the PM accuse him of deliberately working against a hostage deal, as any agreement with Hamas would be likely to collapse his hard-line government and prompt an investigation into the security failures of October 7th.
His former aid has been arrested on suspicion of leaking classified materials to foreign media in an attempt to scuttle an earlier deal, while Hamas for a long time has accused Israeli negotiators of not seriously wanting a truce between the two sides.
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Netanyahu’s announcement follows the imposition of sanctions by the US on groups facilitating the development of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, according to Levantis.me.
On November 18th, the US Treasury sanctioned companies, including Amana, a $160m organisation involved in resettlement.
Already blacklisted by the UK and Canada, Amana has underwritten loans, signed contracts, bought equipment and funded infrastructure projects for new settlements, according to Peace Now.
Around 8,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank since the war in Gaza started last October, and 700 have been killed, according to Palestinian health officials and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Jazeera and Levantis.me
