Israel Rejects Ceasefire Deal, Prepares to Expand Gaza Operation

Tuesday, 29 April 2025 | Israel is preparing to expand its military operation in Gaza and significantly increase its call-up of reservists, a defense official said Monday. 

Due to the deadlock in hostage deal negotiations, Israeli leadership has decided to act on previous threats and escalate fighting. 

Senior ministers have pushed for immediate approval of expanded IDF action in Gaza, but the decision was delayed due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz’s desire to exhaust diplomatic channels to reach a hostage deal before proceeding. 

A political source on Monday morning said Israel had rejected Hamas's proposal for a five-year truce in exchange for the release of all hostages. Officials in Jerusalem ruled out the possibility that the proposed framework would move forward, saying that currently there is no realistic alternative plan to secure the hostages’ return. As a result, Israel is preparing for an intensified military path. 

"There are ideas being floated by some Arab states, like a five-year ceasefire," said the political source. "There is no chance we will agree to a hudna [truce] with Hamas that would allow it to rearm, recover, and continue its war against the State of Israel with even greater strength." 

The source added: "The reason we didn’t immediately launch intense fighting after the end of the last ceasefire—and instead proceeded gradually—was to allow space for negotiations over the hostages’ release. We still want to exhaust every effort to bring the hostages home, but our patience is not unlimited." 

Last week, ahead of the security cabinet meeting, ministers pressed to set a deadline: if no hostage deal is reached by then, Israel must move to what they termed the "decisive phase." This phase would involve a massive reserve call-up, the deployment of several divisions into Gaza, and the use of heavier firepower than the IDF has employed in recent weeks.

 Such a move would require the emergency mobilization of thousands of troops. According to the latest scenarios discussed, several divisions would operate inside Gaza, including the seizure of significant parts of the Strip as leverage to pressure Hamas. 

The Hostages' Families Forum responded to the military’s preparations, saying: “Why continue doing the same thing and expect a different result? Why sink even deeper into the Gaza quagmire? The time has come to show courage and act wisely—to reach a deal that brings all the hostages home and ends the war. The Israeli government could return all the hostages as soon as tomorrow morning—if it chooses to. The hostages would come home, our soldiers’ lives would be saved, and a heavy toll on hundreds of thousands of reservists would be avoided.”