Netanyahu Was Accused of Blocking a Hostage Deal in 2024 - Then Took a Bow

You’ve probably seen the footage by now of Trump and Netanyahu standing in front of cameras acting like they just pulled off the diplomatic miracle of the century. Trump got a standing ovation in the Knesset. World leaders gathered in Egypt, where Trump and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey signed a declaration backing this “historic” peace deal. Everyone’s celebrating like these two men are heroes who saved the day.

Here’s what nobody’s saying loud enough: a deal a lot like this one was on the table 15 months ago. But according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu blocked it. And those hostages paid the price.

Let me walk you through the actual timeline - not the bullshit victory lap version you’re seeing on the news.

Back in May 2024, the original deal was drafted by mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. It was pretty straightforward: three stages starting with a six-week ceasefire. Israel releases Palestinian prisoners, Hamas releases hostages. Eventually the war ends, Israel withdraws from Gaza, and reconstruction begins. Hamas accepted this framework on May 5, 2024. President Biden presented it publicly on May 31. The UN Security Council supported it in June.

By July 2024, negotiators were closer than they’d ever been. Hamas made a huge concession - they dropped their demand for an upfront permanent ceasefire. Even the Biden administration called it a “significant adjustment.” On July 25, 2024, a senior U.S. official told CNN negotiators were “closer than we’ve ever been” and that it was “up to the Israelis to accept it.”

Then Netanyahu showed up with a raft of new last-minute demands.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth obtained the actual document and published it in September 2024. According to the paper, Netanyahu had added requirements that weren’t in the original May 27 proposal - his office says they were just “essential clarifications.” The big one: Israel had to maintain permanent control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border. The May proposal offered an eventual full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu’s late-July version kept Israeli troops in the Philadelphi Corridor and in a 1.4-kilometer strip of Gaza along the Israeli border.

According to CNN, Netanyahu also changed where one group of long-term Palestinian prisoners could go after release - removing Gaza as an option and only allowing deportation. He modified the definition of which hostages counted as “humanitarian cases.” He added new restrictions on the Rafah Crossing.

Hamas said at the time that Netanyahu had “returned to the strategy of procrastination, evasion, and avoiding reaching an agreement by setting new conditions and demands.”

A senior official from one of the mediating countries told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu was “trying to sabotage the deal.” Even the right-wing Jerusalem Post reported that unnamed sources said “Netanyahu is actively sabotaging the possibility of any hostage deal, in order to prevent the collapse of his government.”

That’s the key phrase: to prevent the collapse of his government.

Netanyahu’s coalition depends on two far-right parties led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. They hold 13 crucial seats. And they’ve repeatedly threatened to bring down the government if Netanyahu agrees to any deal that doesn’t result in the complete destruction of Hamas. Back in June 2024, according to Haaretz, both ministers announced they would resign if the hostage release deal was adopted. Ben-Gvir called it “a reckless deal” and “a victory for terrorism.” Smotrich said he wouldn’t be part of a government that agreed to end the war without destroying Hamas.

So Netanyahu was stuck. Accept a deal and his government falls. Keep the war going and the hostages stay in captivity - but he stays in power and out of prison. Because let’s not forget the guy is literally facing bribery, fraud, and corruption charges. Being prime minister doesn’t give him immunity - his trial has been running since 2020 - but it keeps him in charge while it drags on.

On August 29, 2024, there was a heated security cabinet meeting. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Netanyahu of forcing the Philadelphi demand on a military that didn’t think it was necessary. According to both The Times of Israel and Axios, Gallant said Israel had to choose between staying in Philadelphi and getting the hostages back. He was isolated and outvoted thanks to Netanyahu.

Then came September 2024. Six hostages were found dead in a Gaza tunnel. The IDF assessed that Hamas guards murdered them as Israeli troops closed in. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said “the finding of the bodies is a direct result of Netanyahu’s thwarting of the deals.” Over 500,000 Israelis participated in nationwide strikes and demonstrations. People were furious. The hostage families demanded Netanyahu stop wearing the yellow ribbon pin - a symbol of support for the hostages - because his actions showed he didn’t actually care about bringing them home.

When a senior Biden administration official said 90% of the deal was done in September 2024, Netanyahu told Fox News “it’s exactly inaccurate” and “there’s not a deal in the making.” He directly contradicted his own ally. Netanyahu was unequivocal: “Unfortunately, it’s not close.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid repeatedly offered Netanyahu a political “safety net” - promising that opposition parties would support the coalition if his far-right partners quit over a hostage deal. Netanyahu never took him up on it.

This pattern continued for months. In January 2025 - nine months ago - Ben-Gvir actually bragged about it. He posted on X that “in the last year, using our political power, we managed to prevent this deal from going ahead, time after time.” He openly admitted to sabotaging hostage negotiations for political leverage. He called on Smotrich to join him in stopping the deal again.

Israel’s own security establishment kept pushing for flexibility. Multiple IDF commanders told The New York Times that releasing hostages could only be achieved through diplomacy. General Gadi Eisenkot publicly stated that Israel should “rescue civilians, ahead of killing an enemy.” Even Egypt got fed up - at one point in August 2024, Egypt refused to even pass along an Israeli proposal to Hamas because they deemed it objectionable.

So what changed? Trump got anxious about the Nobel Peace Prize and - on September 29th -

announced his 20-point peace plan at the White House with Netanyahu standing right next to him. Four days later, Hamas agreed to release all the hostages - though not to disarm. The next day, Netanyahu ordered a halt to the Gaza City offensive.

Trump’s plan? Built on the same framework that’s been on the table since May 2024. Ceasefire, hostage release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, eventual Israeli withdrawal - plus new terms like Hamas giving up its weapons, an international security force and a technocrat government for Gaza. The details Trump is taking credit for? They’ve been negotiated for over a year.

Netanyahu even had the nerve to lie about it in his October 4 video statement. He claimed that anyone saying “Hamas was ready a year or even two years ago to free all our hostages without a full withdrawal from Gaza” was spreading “a complete lie.” He insisted the only reason Hamas changed their stance was “the military and diplomatic pressure we brought to bear.”

But that’s backwards. The Israeli newspaper that obtained the July 2024 document tells a different story. Hamas had signed on to the framework and was ready to deal - though by that September, U.S. officials said Hamas was making new demands too. According to that paper, Netanyahu was the one who blocked it by adding a raft of new requirements at the last minute. He’s rewriting history to justify why those hostages spent an extra 15 months in captivity.

Yesterday when those 20 living hostages came home - and four bodies out of the 28 that were supposed to be returned - everyone celebrated Trump and Netanyahu as heroes. Trump stood in the Knesset and said Israel, “with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms.” Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “important and decisive role” in bringing back the hostages. They both acted like they invented peace in the Middle East.

What they were really celebrating was these two men finally accepting a deal that should have happened 15 months ago. Those hostages spent an extra 15 months in captivity - some of them died in tunnels - so Netanyahu could keep his coalition intact and Trump could get his photo op. The families who spent over two years not knowing if their loved ones were alive or dead paid the price for Netanyahu’s political survival and Trump’s ego. And yesterday these two stood there accepting applause like they’d performed some kind of miracle instead of what they actually did: drag out a hostage crisis for over a year to serve their own interests.

Correction, September 28th, 2026: This essay and its headline first said Netanyahu blocked the hostage deal for 15 months - a version of the deal was signed in January 2025, and the claim that he blocked it in July 2024 comes from the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. It also said Biden said the deal was 90% done - it was a senior Biden official; that being prime minister is Netanyahu’s only immunity - he has none, and his trial has been running since 2020; that the 2024 deal had Hamas giving up its weapons and governance - that’s new in Trump’s plan; that Netanyahu added 11 new demands - the paper reported a raft of new last-minute ones; that the paper’s document proved Netanyahu was lying - it shows he added demands; that Trump announced his plan ten days earlier and Hamas agreed the next day - it was 15 days earlier, and Hamas agreed four days later to free the hostages but not to disarm; that Trump told the Knesset Israel “did what it had to do” and credited his “pivotal leadership” - those weren’t his words; that Netanyahu thanked Trump there for his “firm support” - that thanks came in his October 4th statement; that Ben-Gvir called the deal “total defeat” - he called it “a reckless deal”; and that the two far-right parties hold 14 seats - they hold 13.

Update, September 28th, 2026: A few lines now say who says so and add context - Netanyahu’s office disputes the newspaper’s account, U.S. officials said that September that Hamas was making new demands too, the leaders in Egypt signed a declaration backing the deal rather than the deal itself, and Trump’s plan adds new terms to the 2024 framework.