Have the Israelis given up on getting a hostage deal? Their latest target in Gaza signals an end to their patience with Hamas' negotiators in Doha. And according to Axios' Barak Ravid, the Israelis aren't the only ones getting tired of the Hamas Hokey Pokey.
Even those negotiators who blamed Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu for previous stalls have declared Hamas the sole problem at this stage, Ravid reported yesterday:
🚨U.S. and Israeli officials involved in the negotiations tell me that the U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt are still waiting for Hamas' response to the latest Gaza ceasefore deal proposal that was delivered last week
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) July 20, 2025
🚨Hamas officials in Doha are inclined to support the proposal,…
... but there is still no clear response from the leadership of the military wing in Gaza. According to a source familiar with the details, the Egyptian and Qatari mediators are pressing Hamas to deliver a response
🚨A senior U.S. official told me: "There were times in the past when there was no agreement because of Israel. That is not the case now. The Israelis are bending over backwards to reach an agreement, and Hamas leaders are being hard-headed. If there is no agreement this time, it will be entirely Hamas’ fault."
🚨Another non-Israeli source involved in the negotiations told me: "Hamas is the problem now. Every day they delay their response, more Palestinians die. We can’t keep waiting for the answer of a few fucking Hamas leaders in Gaza. Who do they even think they are? Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed just since they received the new proposal last week"
"Who do they even think they are?" That may be a question for Hamas' Billionaire Boys Club of Doha. Do they even have contact with Hamas leadership in Gaza at the moment? Is there any recognized leadership in Gaza any longer?
Two weeks ago, the BBC interviewed an unnamed Hamas "security officer" in Gaza, who painted a grim picture of the group's status. He claimed that "most of the leadership, about 95%, are now dead ... The active figures have all been killed." The unnamed Hamas operative told the BBC that the group had fallen apart into gangs more than a cohesive network or terror-military force, and that as a result, the security situation "has completely collapsed." It sounded as though Hamas had no recognized command-and-control functions any longer, which would make negotiations impossible.
The Israelis may have reached this very conclusion. Over the last day, the IDF has surrounded and entered Deir al-Balah, roughly equidistant from Khan Younis and Gaza City, after issuing evacuation orders for the enclave. The Israelis had avoided sending ground troops to Deir al-Balah due to intelligence that such operations would put the hostages at risk. Hamas had made Deir al-Balah its fallback bastion, and threatened to kill hostages if the IDF entered in force:
Israeli tanks pushed into the southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the IDF believes some of the remaining hostages may be held.
The IDF issued evacuation orders for the citizens of Deir al-Balah, saying it sought to destroy Hamas's capabilities and infrastructure.
The message included the phrase that the IDF was going to “operate in areas where it has not operated in the past.”
The Times of Israel reports the same thing. The hostage families have taken note of the change in posture, and they are not happy:
Deir al-Balah is one of the few places in the Strip where the military has not yet operated with ground troops because it believed Hamas to be holding hostages there, though it has conducted airstrikes in the city. Hamas has vowed to execute captives if the IDF approaches.
The IDF has avoided ground operations in areas where it believes Hamas to be holding hostages, in order not to endanger them.
“Can anyone promise us that this decision will not come at the cost of the loss of our loved ones?” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement after the announcement.
Because of the relatively light fighting in the Deir al-Balah area, refugees from other parts of Gaza have sought shelter there, and most buildings remain standing. During a ceasefire in February, Hamas released three Israeli hostages — Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami — in a ceremony in Deir al-Balah that sparked outrage in Israel.
It does seem remarkable that the Israelis have avoided entering Deir al-Balah for the past 21 months. The IDF has conducted limited airstrikes in the city, but nothing of the extent in places like Khan Younis and Beit Hanoun, the latter of which is also getting pounded today in the north end of the strip. The Israelis seem to have deliberately held off to give Hamas a back door for the safety of the hostages in the hope that Hamas will negotiate in good faith to end the war and exit Gaza.
If Hamas leadership has collapsed or refuses to negotiate in good faith, the back door may end up being a trap. Closing that trap will cost Netanyahu politically if it costs the lives of the twenty hostages that supposedly remain alive at this point. However, if Ravid's sources paint an accurate picture, the only way to get them out now would be to rescue them directly, however difficult that may be. And even if some coherent chain of command still exists in Gaza, it has been clear all along that Hamas will refuse to give up its grip on power and on its war of annihilation against the Israelis. It has always come down to this choice for Israel -- and now that grim choice may finally have been made.
