Why Netanyahu won’t let the Gaza hostage deal fall through

President-elect Donald Trump is poised to claim his first major foreign policy achievement just days before his inauguration on Monday. If no last-minute obstacles arise, a long-anticipated hostage deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could take effect as soon as this Sunday. But while Trump will emerge victorious from this situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, will find himself humiliated and defeated.

For nearly a year, fearing the collapse of his right-wing coalition, Netanyahu has worked hard to prevent the deal from concluding, using all sorts of excuses and hoping that Hamas would eventually derail it and be blamed for it. This has not happened. Hamas said on Thursday that they are committed to the deal brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar.

The conclusion of this hostage deal would see the 15-month long war in Gaza come to an end, the exchange of 98 hostages and 1,000 Palestinians convicted by Israeli military courts as terrorists, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and return of displaced Palestinians.