The Israeli government cancels a meeting following the recovery of hostage bodies from Gaza. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has also called for the Knesset to convene and summon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the hostage agreement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the government's weekly meeting, originally set for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza on Saturday, a government spokesperson confirmed. Instead, Netanyahu rescheduled a National Security Cabinet meeting for 4:00 p.m. on the same day.
Additionally, the Prime Minister's Office announced on Saturday that Netanyahu had canceled a planned visit to an elementary school in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, where he was to mark the beginning of the new school year.
These scheduling changes follow public criticism over a controversial decision made by the National Security Cabinet on Thursday night, in which the IDF was instructed to maintain a continuous presence along the Gaza-Egypt border. According to recordings from the meeting released by Channel 12 News, Netanyahu acknowledged that this decision likely signaled the collapse of negotiations over a hostage deal.
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid has called for a government meeting, penning a letter on Sunday morning to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud). In his letter, Lapid demanded that the Knesset plenum convene on Monday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in attendance to discuss a potential hostage deal. Lapid emphasized that the deal has the backing of both a majority of the public and the Knesset.
The Knesset is currently in recess until October 28. However, the Speaker has the authority to call special sessions during the recess. If at least 25 MKs request a meeting, the Speaker is obligated to convene the plenum, although he retains the discretion to set the date.
On Saturday evening, members of the Knesset from the opposition, who are part of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC), sent a letter to committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud). They demanded that the committee convene and summon the Prime Minister to explain his "failures to achieve the set war objectives, the refusal to establish new objectives, and the acceptance of decisions that jeopardize Israel's strategic position." The letter was initiated by MK Gadi Eisenkot (National Unity).
The bodies of the hostages retrieved were identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino, according to the IDF on Sunday morning. The bodies were recovered from a tunnel beneath the city of Rafah in Gaza. The hostages were likely killed by Hamas shortly before the IDF reached them in Rafah.
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