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Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is going through a bad week, and things could get even worse. Ever since his March decision to pull out of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, which was brokered jointly by the US, Qatar and Egypt, by demanding a change in its conditions, he believed that he was once more calling the shots over Israel’s unrelenting war on Gaza. Never mind that he had gone against a majority of Israelis, including the families of the captives, in shelving the hostage exchange deal, but he also believed he had a blank check.

He miscalculated when he ordered a tight blockade, now in its third month, which cut off all means of survival for more than 2 million hapless Palestinians. By doing so, he lost any remaining sympathy for his war on Gaza. Even worse, he added another charge to a long list of accusations against Israel before international courts and human rights organizations.

Everyone in Israel knows that this second and more vicious chapter of the war has nothing to do with releasing the remaining Israeli captives. On the contrary, the reoccupation of northern Gaza and the destruction of Rafah in the south has almost guaranteed that none of the hostages will return alive. And, despite the hellish bombardment of shelters, tents, civil service salvaging equipment and medical facilities — resulting in thousands of fatalities — Hamas has not been forced to surrender, nor is it ready to free, without conditions, any more of the captives.

This is Netanyahu’s war, whose real aim is to prolong the life of his government and, in the process, his own political career.

Israel could have retrieved all its hostages from Hamas in return for an end to the war. Netanyahu would not have it

Osama Al-Sharif

But while Netanyahu pushed on, despite rising domestic opposition, something unexpected happened: the US reached a deal with Hamas to free the last surviving American hostage, Edan Alexander. On Monday, Hamas handed Alexander, who is also an Israeli citizen, to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which in turn delivered him to his waiting family in Israel.

President Donald Trump took credit for this breakthrough, as he should. In Israel, there was rage against the government. The opposition described the event as a blow to Netanyahu. Israel could have retrieved all its hostages from Hamas in return for an end to the war. Netanyahu would not have it.

And then questions were asked. Was there a secret deal with the US, as Hamas claimed, that would derail Netanyahu’s war ambitions? Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Israel to meet with Netanyahu and top aides as Alexander returned home. He reportedly criticized the prime minister for pointlessly extending the war and hindering a hostage deal.

On Tuesday, Witkoff met Israeli protesters, including the families of the hostages, to underscore his position — and presumably that of the White House. His visit to Israel came days after reports suggested that Trump had decided to sever direct contact with Netanyahu as the president believed he was manipulating him.

A few weeks ago, Trump told reporters that he had asked Netanyahu “to be good” to the people of Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid to get through to the beleaguered Strip. Instead, Netanyahu doubled down, suggesting that starving 2 million Palestinians would force Hamas to cave in.

When the Americans proposed hiring private contractors to distribute aid, bypassing UNRWA, the World Food Programme, UNICEF and other aid agencies, the UN rejected the proposal outright. Israel, on the other hand, showed no interest in reopening the gates to hundreds of waiting trucks on the Egyptian border. Under such dire circumstances, the UN warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are on the verge of starvation. Tens of thousands of children and pregnant mothers are malnourished.

Israel’s induced famine in Gaza is a blemish on all humanity. One man stands behind this most gruesome crime: Netanyahu. To make things worse, his far-right government had endorsed a plan, codenamed “Gideon’s Chariots,” to conquer and occupy all of Gaza, using at least 60,000 soldiers, and drive all the population into the desolate Rafah governorate along the Egyptian border.

Israel’s induced famine in Gaza is a blemish on all humanity. One man stands behind this most gruesome crime: Netanyahu

Osama Al-Sharif

Such an operation, if executed, would condemn tens of thousands of Gazans to death and facilitate the forced displacement of those who survive. Such a permanent occupation would vacate Gaza completely, deliver the transfer of millions and threaten the national security of Egypt.

But there is another option — all it needs is America’s blessing and support. Arab leaders have already adopted a plan for Gaza that would allow for a nonpartisan administrative body to run the Strip, pave the way for reconstruction, introduce mechanisms that would guarantee Israel’s security, and prevent displacement.

Witkoff, who has become Trump’s most trusted emissary, knows that Netanyahu no longer has the trust of the Israeli public. He also knows that it is Netanyahu who has ruined every chance of reaching a deal that would deliver all Israeli captives, while denying any role for Hamas in administering Gaza in the future.

Aside from salvaging his career and avoiding jail time for corruption, Netanyahu wants to switch to a fast track on annexing the West Bank and killing any chance of a Palestinian state. He believes Trump will back him on this.

However, Trump wants to be a peacemaker, as his speech in Riyadh on Tuesday underlined. It is time the US recognized that, without a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian problem, the region will always be susceptible to instability. To undercut radical forces on both sides, voices of reason must prevail. Netanyahu’s vision for the future of the region, as underlined by his genocidal war in Gaza, will never bring long-lasting stability to the Middle East. It is time for Trump to propose another vision that refutes that of Netanyahu.

Israeli politicians now believe that Netanyahu is on his last rope. His push for a perpetual war on Gaza has polarized Israeli society and turned the country into a global pariah state. His latest ploy of using starvation against millions of people has become Israel’s Achilles’ heel.

Netanyahu’s time as an Israeli leader is running out. He has betrayed the trust of the families of the hostages and the families of the soldiers who have lost their lives in Gaza. More importantly, he has isolated Israel in the international community and created a wave of popular support for the Palestinians and their cause.

For things to move forward, his leadership must end. Killing more Palestinians will not deliver Israel out of the conundrum it now finds itself in.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator in Amman. X: @plato010