Israeli reporter suspended for saying Netanyahu ‘wants all hostages dead’

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – An Israeli reporter was suspended after he said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “wants all hostages dead,” Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday.

“Netanyahu has no real interest, no real incentive to release the hostages. He wants them all dead, for his own reasons, to be martyrs,” Channel 13’s Gil Tamari said during a live news broadcast on Sunday.

Haaretz said Tamari was temporarily suspended over his comments, but he will resume his job on Wednesday after offering an apology for the remarks.

There was no comment from Netanyahu's office on the incident.

Last week, Netanyahu rejected a Hamas proposal for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap and vowed to continue the war until a “crushing victory” against Hamas.

Hamas is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages following its Oct. 7 cross-border attack into Israel.

Israel has since pounded the Gaza Strip, killing at least 28,340 people and injuring 67,984 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

In late 2023 South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The UN court, in its interim ruling in January, ruled that South Africa’s claims are plausible. It ordered provisional measures for Israel’s government to desist from genocidal acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar