Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is at the center of a new political storm over a Gaza war hostage crisis following the arrest of several people in connection with an alleged leak of classified documents from his office.

An Israeli court announced the arrests Friday afternoon, before the start of Shabbat, saying a joint investigation by police, internal security services and the military suspected a “violation of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information.” , which has also “damaged the achievement of Israel’s war objectives.”

One of those arrested is said to be the Prime Minister’s spokesperson.

While most details remain under a partial gag order, Israeli media have reported that the war objective in question is the release of the 101 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. The suspects are alleged to have selectively leaked Hamas strategy documents found by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, and manipulated or edited the material to make it appear as if the Palestinian militant group wanted to smuggle hostages to Egypt and then to Iran. or Yemen.

In September, Netanyahu made this claim in interviews and press conferences in support of a new demand he made in the ceasefire and hostage release talks: the need for Israeli forces to move to the Gaza-Egypt border to stay. The demand was rejected by Hamas because it was not part of the terms that both sides had already conditionally accepted, and it was a major reason that months of negotiations failed.

Netanyahu has been repeatedly accused of delaying a deal to prevent the collapse of his coalition government. Anything short of a total victory over Hamas is anathema to his far-right allies, and he is believed to see his term in office as the best way to avoid prosecution in fraud, bribery and breach of trust cases filed in 2019. He denies any wrongdoing. .

Shortly after the Israeli leader first mentioned the alleged Hamas plan, reports apparently based on the same falsified material appeared in the British newspaper The Jewish Chronicle and the German tabloid Bild, which were widely picked up by the Israeli media.

Concerned that publication of the articles would jeopardize intelligence-gathering efforts in Gaza, the Israeli military launched an investigation into the leak and announced that it was “not aware of the existence of such a document ”. The Jewish Chronicle later retracted the story and fired the journalist who wrote it.

The prime minister’s office said Friday that no one working for Netanyahu had been questioned or arrested, but did not deny Saturday that the leak may have come from his office. Dozens of other leaks related to ceasefire negotiations and the release of hostages have appeared in the media, the report pointed out, without prompting investigations.

The charges are alleged to relate to the leaking of classified documents, negligence in handling the material and using it to influence public opinion, as well as improperly hiring a consultant without adequate security clearance.

News of the arrests was met with anger by the prime minister’s opponents in the bitterly politically divided country. On Saturday evening, thousands of people across Israel took part in what are now weekly demonstrations in favor of a deal.

The opposition leader, Yair Lapid, wrote about and in dealing with the most sensitive and explosive security issues.”