Published date: 7 August 2025 11:52 BST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls from senior ministers to advance ceasefire negotiations and deliberately restricted all aid to Gaza in order to force a surrender from Hamas, internal government transcripts published by Israeli news outlet Channel 13 have revealed.

The transcripts from an Israeli war cabinet meeting on 1 March show that Netanyahu ignored repeated calls from senior defence officials to move to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in order to secure the release of Israeli captives, and then to renew hostilities after.

Netanyahu instead chose to unilaterally break the ceasefire in March and bar all aid to Gaza, in the hopes of forcing a surrender by Hamas.

This was despite Hamas complying with the talks, contrary to the war cabinet’s expectations.