Former White House official Gordon said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu put forward new conditions instead of finalizing a hostage-exchange deal in the war in Gaza, delaying the agreement by six months. Gordon argued that Netanyahu chose to pursue the goal of "total victory" and preserve his coalition rather than seek an option to end the war.
Gordon criticized the use of information from Brett McGurk's new book and interviews to defend Netanyahu's handling of the war. Describing McGurk's account as valuable testimony, Gordon said it did not constitute conclusive evidence and that most former officials who served in the Biden administration did not share those views.
Gordon said most of his former colleagues believed that then-U.S. President Joe Biden should have applied greater pressure on Israel, handled the war differently and brought it to an end sooner.
The dispute over the July 4, 2024, agreement
According to Gordon, Hamas accepted the basic framework after dropping its demand that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire before the hostages were released. Gordon said Biden subsequently pressured Netanyahu on July 4, 2024, to finalize the agreement.
However, Gordon said Netanyahu rejected the framework and introduced new conditions despite the recommendations of his own security officials. One of those conditions was that the Israeli army remain along the entire Gaza-Egypt border area it had captured after the initial draft was presented.
The other condition was the establishment of a new inspection mechanism to search civilians returning to northern Gaza. Gordon said these demands required Israeli soldiers to remain stationed in Gaza.
Gordon said both conditions were dropped in the agreement reached in January 2025. He said around 9,000 more Palestinians were killed during the six-month period in which the agreement was blocked, adding that some Israeli hostages, including six who died in August, also lost their lives.
Gordon's criticism of Netanyahu
Gordon described Netanyahu's handling of the war and his approach to the humanitarian consequences as "disastrous." Gordon argued that this approach had left Israel more isolated and less secure, and claimed that Netanyahu had caused deep and perhaps irreparable damage to Israel's relationship with the United States.
Gordon said the Washington administration should take more steps to change Israel's position rather than facilitate it, and said no account of what happened in Gaza could exonerate Netanyahu.
Gordon argued that U.S. pressure on Israel could produce results. He cited Biden's phone call with Netanyahu after World Central Kitchen workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike as an example.
Casualties in Gaza
Attacks were reported to have continued in Gaza despite a ceasefire being in effect. According to figures released by Gaza's Health Ministry on October 8, 1,471 Palestinians were killed and 5,189 people were injured in attacks carried out after the ceasefire.
According to the same figures, the number of people killed in Gaza since October 2023 reached 74,254, while the number of injured reached 175,306.
