Former Israeli PM Olmert tells officials to resign if truce deal fails

Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called on the minister of defence, leaders of the army and security services to submit their immediate resignations if the current round of ceasefire negotiations and releasing captives held in Gaza fail.

Speaking to the Israeli news site Haaretz, he pointed the finger at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure of a deal and called on officials to take action.

"I call on Defence minister Yoav Gallant, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and Mossad chief David Barnea to announce their immediate resignations together if Netanyahu thwarts the negotiations on the deal in the coming days," he said.

"They must hold a joint press conference  in which they tell the public that they have reached the conclusion that they cannot serve the moral, security, military and political interests of the State of Israel in light of what they see, hear, and experience every day in closed sessions from the prime minister and his loyal ministers," he added.

Olmert also said that any of the named officials who stay in their position knowing that Netanyahu "endangers [Israel’s] peace, security and stability" will be putting the country further at risk.

He accused Netanyahu of not wanting to return captives held in Gaza since 7 October, reiterating that without the return of the captives, there is no real possibility of the war on the besieged enclave coming to an end.

Olmert also told Haaretz that confrontations in the north of Gaza will continue to escalate, eventually expanding into a regional war as hostilities with Hezbollah press on.

"In short, Bibi [Netanyahu] will be forced to choose between giving up absolute victory and continuing the war and expanding it into a comprehensive confrontation on multiple fronts, without a reasonable timetable for its end," he said.

"The choice is between what is good for Israel and what is good for Bibi," he added, highlighting that the longer the war drags on, the more civilian casualties and deaths among soldiers their will be, as well as damage to infrastructure.

He told Haaretz that the right thing to do would be to stop the war, return the captives and restore calm at the northern border to allow the state to recover, while also returning Israeli residents to their homes.

Ceasefire talks are again at a standstill with Hamas stating the terms they agreed to in the deal presented on 2 July have been changed and insisting on a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the Philadelphi Corridor.

While the US announced that Netanyahu had been positive towards the proposal, Israeli sources have called this political posturing.

Netanyahu has continued to insist that Israeli troops should remain on the border between Gaza and Egypt and at the Netzarim junction in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

Families of the captives held in Israel have also announced they will be boycotting an Israeli state memorial in frustration, accusing Netanyahu of neglecting them.