Nearly a week after Hamas accepted the latest ceasefire proposals in Gaza from mediators in Egypt and Qatar, Israel has yet to respond despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that he would immediately start negotiations to release all hostages and end the war. CNN reports that this silence reflects a radical shift in Israel’s approach, confusing mediators and remaining hostages’ families who accuse Netanyahu of abandoning and sacrificing their loved ones. After 18 months of agreeing only to partial and phased ceasefire deals, Netanyahu now demands a comprehensive agreement ensuring the release of all hostages and a complete end to the war, but on Israel’s terms.

This policy reversal comes as Netanyahu accelerates plans for a large-scale military assault on Gaza City, following a dual strategy of negotiation and waging war “to defeat Hamas.” On Thursday, Netanyahu announced he had instructed his team to immediately begin negotiations to return all hostages and end the Gaza war, but he did not address the current proposal calling for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for releasing half the hostages.

According to the report, this latest proposal resembles the 60-day ceasefire Netanyahu approved last month but with terms more favorable to Israel after Hamas showed flexibility on the number of prisoners to be released and the security perimeter size.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to push plans for a comprehensive IDF attack on Gaza City and its control. Israel attributes Hamas’s concessions to the threat of its imminent attack on Gaza. Israeli officials believe renewed heavy military pressure will make Hamas more flexible in accepting Israel’s terms to end the war.

The American network notes Israel has always claimed military pressure would force Hamas to negotiate, but despite depletion, Hamas has defied defeat after nearly two years of fighting.

Netanyahu has not explained the reason for this radical shift from a partial negotiation framework to a comprehensive one, and his contradictory messages have confused many inside and outside Israel. For a year and a half, the government refused to discuss ending the war, agreeing only to negotiate partial and phased ceasefires. Now, he chooses only a comprehensive agreement and hesitates to respond to the latest mediator proposal accepted by Hamas.

According to Israeli sources to CNN, Netanyahu’s new negotiation strategy’s solution lies not in Tel Aviv but in Washington. In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump publicly expressed explicit support for Israel’s renewed Gaza offensive, adopting Israel’s rhetoric aimed at destroying Hamas instead of pushing for a temporary ceasefire.

Last week, Trump wrote on the ‘Truth Social’ platform: “We will not see the return of the remaining hostages except by confronting and destroying Hamas!!! The sooner we do this, the better the chances of success.”

In the last Israeli security cabinet meeting, where Netanyahu’s government approved expanding and deepening the Gaza operation, five conditions were set to end the war: disarming Hamas, releasing all hostages, disarming Gaza while maintaining Israeli security control, and establishing a civilian administration alternative to Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

However, Hamas has drawn a red line against any idea of disarmament. Israeli analysts say Netanyahu’s dual messages—pursuing war and peace—are a political tactic to buy time to prolong the war and thus extend his rule.

Haim Levinson, a senior diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, told CNN: “This is the intent, and Netanyahu knows Hamas will never accept those conditions.” He added that Netanyahu’s demand to control large parts of Gaza is likely to hinder any potential agreement.

While polls show most Israelis support any deal that would return the hostages, Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, oppose any ceasefire or war end, repeatedly warning it could collapse his government.

Due to this explicit threat, all hostage deals so far have been phased and gradual, according to an Israeli source familiar with the negotiations. This partial approach has allowed Netanyahu to promise his coalition partners that Israel will ultimately resume the war.

Former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Biden administration believed Netanyahu was obstructing a ceasefire agreement and told Israel’s Channel 13: “There were times we desperately wanted to say explicitly that we thought the Prime Minister was completely intransigent and that it was hard to reach an agreement.” He said the administration kept the disagreements confidential because Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader, withdrew from negotiations upon seeing a split between the US and Israel.