Top Israeli daily Haaretz has called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be stopped from continuing what it calls “fake negotiations” that leave Israeli captives in limbo, Anadolu reports.

In an editorial titled “Israel’s Netanyahu Is the Master of Sham Negotiations”, Haaretz said: “The (Israeli) hostages slowly rotting in Hamas’ tunnels for more than 10 months have become supporting characters in the great drama of the fluctuations in Netanyahu’s position regarding the hostage deal.

“The general public and the hostages’ families in particular are trapped in a cycle of hope and disappointment: Netanyahu is ready to negotiate, Netanyahu agrees to give the Israeli delegation some rope, Netanyahu is willing to show flexibility, but suddenly Netanyahu is adding more conditions, Netanyahu says in confidential forums that it’s not certain there will be a deal, the deal collapses, and then it starts all over again,” said Haaretz, adding: “Meanwhile, more and more hostages are dying.”

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