(Bloomberg) -- A video showing an American-Israeli captive held in Gaza has focused public attention on the fate of more than 130 hostages, complicating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on when to launch an assault against Hamas’ final stronghold in Rafah.

Renewed protests broke out this week around the Jerusalem home of Netanyahu and the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv after 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin was shown in the video, in the first sign of life since his capture in October.

Netanyahu’s plans to attack Rafah, on Gaza’s southernmost border with Egypt, have provoked international alarm because more than a million Palestinian refugees are sheltering in the small city. Many Israelis also fear that the remaining detainees won’t survive the military operation, as just moving civilians out could take weeks.

The US has pressed Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza and criticized the planned Rafah attack. Washington has pushed for a deal freeing hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and a freeze in the fighting. 

Israel’s war cabinet met Thursday to discuss a new proposal for a hostage swap deal with Hamas as negotiators were due to hold talks with Egyptian counterparts, according to state broadcaster Kan. Egypt is sending a high-level delegation on the matter to Israel, the Associated Press reported Friday. 

Israel has been waging a devastating offensive in the coastal enclave since Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, attacked across the border on Oct. 7 killing about 1,200 people. More than 34,000 Palestinians have died, according to Hamas-run health authorities. 

The Palestinian militant group also kidnapped some 250 others, of which about 105 were released during a November cease-fire. It’s not known how many of the more than 130 still in captivity are alive. 

Hostage talks have been in deadlock since Hamas turned down the latest offer just under two weeks ago. Demonstrations led by hostages’ families in recent weeks have drawn tens of thousands, with some participants calling for the government to resign to make way for new elections. 

Netanyahu leads the most right-wing administration in Israel’s history, and some of his coalition allies are pushing for the Israeli army to press on with the Gaza offensive. One of them, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, attacked the bid to revive the hostage negotiations. 

“This is actually an offer of complete surrender by Israel and a complete victory by Hamas,” he said on X. “From now on, we should only speak to Hamas with shells and bombs,” and enter Rafah “as quickly and forcefully as possible.”

The US State Department said it was of “dire importance” for a hostage deal to be done “immediately,” and blamed Hamas for holding it up. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel April 30, Kan reported Friday.

Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, has met with the Pope and US President Joe Biden, as well as addressed the United Nations, as she has pushed for more to be done to secure the remaining captives’ release. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari pledged to do everything to free the hostages, while denouncing what he called a “psychological terror video.”

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Israel may be willing to compromise on the number of hostages freed in an initial phase of any deal, Israeli media has reported. Hamas had said it can’t free 40 women, elderly or sick captives as demanded in return for a six-week cease-fire because it doesn’t have enough hostages in that category.

Under a previous proposal, a second phase would free men and soldiers under 50, followed by a third phase for the release of the bodies of hostages that would lead to a permanent end to the war, according to US officials.

If a deal is now reached, there will be a pause in fighting and the army won’t enter Rafah, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper cited a person familiar with the matter as saying. One of the paper’s headlines on Saturday read: “Dilemma: Between a Hostage Deal and Entering Rafah.” 

Netanyahu has to take public opinion into account because “after the video, the atmosphere has changed,” said Joshua Krasna, a former Israeli diplomat and intelligence analyst. “This was a clever and manipulative card for Hamas to play,” he said.

--With assistance from Alisa Odenheimer.

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