AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last week, saying that trust between the two had, quote, "eroded." The now-former Israeli defense minister held a meeting with families of Israeli hostages in Gaza on his last day in the job and was very frank about what more Israel could achieve in Gaza and who stands between the hostages and their return. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Carmel Gat was 39 when she was taken hostage, along with about 250 others, last October 7 in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people.
GIL DICKMANN: She was really an amazing person.
LONSDORF: Her cousin, Gil Dickmann, says that hostages who were later released told him that Carmel had lifted their spirits.
DICKMANN: They told us that she remained hopeful, and she made other people hopeful.
LONSDORF: Carmel Gat was killed by Hamas in Gaza in August.
DICKMANN: We know that we had opportunities to get her out, and we missed them.
LONSDORF: Dickmann has been fighting along with other hostage family members for the Israeli government to prioritize a deal with Hamas to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages back. They've had many meetings with Gallant, who was Israel's defense minister throughout this war in Gaza. But he says this one was different.
DICKMANN: I felt like he was finally free to speak freely and to say what he thinks.
LONSDORF: Dickmann says Gallant told them that the Israeli military has accomplished all it can in Gaza.
DICKMANN: And what he said is that there's so much that you can do with force, and they've done it.
LONSDORF: Gallant also told them that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is responsible for holding up a cease-fire deal in July. Netanyahu dissolved his war cabinet back in June, giving him more unilateral control over the war.
DICKMANN: It was very clear from him that the reason why we didn't take this deal was not military. It wasn't diplomatic. I think it was a political reason. That meant that my cousin, who was alive at the beginning of July, stayed in captivity and was murdered six weeks later.
LONSDORF: Since then, thousands more Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza, bringing the death toll to more than 43,000, according to the Ministry of Health. And several more hostages have been confirmed dead as well.
DICKMANN: It feels like we've been through 13 months of gaslighting in which Netanyahu is telling us, don't blame me for the fact that the hostages aren't here.
LONSDORF: Dickmann says he feels betrayed.
DICKMANN: It's mind-boggling for me to think that this is what the prime minister of Israel is doing.
LONSDORF: NPR obtained a recording and transcript of the meeting with Gallant and was able to verify what Gil Dickmann told us. We also reached out to both Gallant and the prime minister's office about these claims. Neither responded.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).
LONSDORF: Netanyahu fired Gallant in a surprise move last week on the night of the U.S. elections.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).
LONSDORF: In his speech, Netanyahu said that, quote, "significant differences had emerged between himself and Gallant about how to proceed in the war in Gaza." Both Netanyahu and Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes related to Gaza. After Gallant's firing, the Israeli public took to the streets.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIRENS)
LONSDORF: NPR producer, Itay Stern, spoke to protesters in Tel Aviv, including 37-year-old Maayan Oz.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MAAYAN OZ: Our country is slipping away, and tonight is just the last nail on the coffin.
LONSDORF: Efforts to get cease-fire talks restarted have been slow moving. Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinians are killed by Israeli strikes every day in Gaza. And 101 Israeli hostages - around a third of whom are confirmed dead - continue to languish in captivity. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF STANLEY'S "NORTH AMERICANS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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