Israeli delegation to return to hostage-ceasefire talks on Thursday — PM’s office
Announcement comes as Netanyahu set to depart for US, where report says he’s seeking Biden’s backing for ‘tough’ negotiating stance; protesters block traffic near airport
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday decided to bring Israel back to the negotiating table this week for a hostages-for-ceasefire deal in Gaza, the premier’s office announced, ahead of his departure to the United States.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu held an “in-depth discussion” on the hostage talks before his flight to Washington, at which he was joined by his negotiating team and senior security officials.
The Walla news site cited an Israeli official as saying the location of the talks has not yet been set. According to the official, Netanyahu, who will return to Israel on Thursday, wants to first secure US President Joe Biden’s blessing for a “tough” Israeli position based on the premier’s four “nonnegotiables.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to return to the talks after almost two weeks.
“There is a limited window of opportunity for a deal to release the hostages,” wrote Gallant on X, formerly Twitter. “Even if there are disagreements, the entire security establishment has your back in the mission to bring about an agreement.”
Talks to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held there by Hamas have elicited increasing optimism of late, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Friday that “we’re in the 10-yard line” for a deal. Energy Minister Eli Cohen, a member of the security cabinet, assessed during an interview with Channel 12 news on Sunday that a deal could be signed within two weeks.
Several hundred anti-government protesters gathered outside Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday to demand Netanyahu stay in Israel and sign a deal. The prime minister was set to depart on Monday morning. By contrast, some hardline members of the premier’s coalition have threatened to topple the government if the deal goes through.
Netanyahu has been accused of impeding progress toward a deal with the four “nonnegotiable” terms he announced July 7, including a demand to retain Israeli control of the Philadelphi Route, which separates Gaza from Egypt.
The Israeli official who spoke to Walla said that during a four-hour meeting Sunday, Netanyahu instructed Israel’s delegation not to budge from his demands, but still stick to Israel’s May 27 proposal, outlined by Biden in a May 31 speech. However, the official said, Netanyahu appeared to be more realistic about whether Hamas would accept the nonnegotiables. At a press conference on July 13, Netanyahu said Hamas had sought to introduce “29 changes to the proposal” and that he had “not moved a millimeter from the proposal that President Biden praised.”
The Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday that Israel was scrambling to draft its latest response in the talks before Netanyahu took off for the US.
Netanyahu had been scheduled to leave Israel Sunday night and meet with Biden on Monday. But the prime minister on Sunday pushed off his flight by a day after Biden, who is recovering from COVID-19, delayed their meeting to Tuesday.
Despite the postponement, anti-government groups and some of the hostages’ relatives went ahead with a pre-planned Sunday protest near Ben Gurion Airport. Channel 13 news quoted organizers as saying they believed the delay was announced to “mislead the protesters” and could still change. Anti-Netanyahu demonstrations are also planned outside the prime minister’s engagements in the US, including his address to Congress on Wednesday.
“Most citizens know the prime minister is making decisions based on personal gain,” Shai Mozes, nephew of hostage Gadi Mozes, told the Haaretz daily at the demonstration. “They see he wants to leave them in captivity. We’ll remind him wherever we can: he doesn’t represent anyone and we won’t accept this abandonment.”
Relatives of some of the hostages, by contrast, were flying with Netanyahu on his plane to Washington in a show of solidarity.
Some of the premier’s far-right coalition partners, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have threatened to bolt the government if Israel agrees to what they describe as a “reckless” deal.
Over the weekend, eight members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party said they would refuse to back the current proposal. In a letter to the premier, the lawmakers said that “any agreement that includes the withdrawal of our forces from their current positions in Gaza is a complete defeat.”
Specifically, they warned against withdrawal from the Philadelphi Route, which Israel says Hamas uses to smuggle arms into Gaza. Likud MK Amit Halevi, one of the signatories, told The Times of Israel on Sunday he “will not be part of a coalition that takes our soldiers out of Philadelphi.”
Netanyahu’s three other “nonnegotiables” are that Israel be allowed to resume fighting until its war goals are achieved; that armed Palestinians be prevented from returning to the Gaza Strip’s north; and that “Israel will maximize the number of living hostages who will be returned from Hamas captivity.”
It is believed that 120 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 116 were kidnapped on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and abduct 251. At least 42 of the hostages are confirmed dead.
Talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar have failed to secure a truce and the release of the hostages since a weeklong ceasefire in November that saw Hamas release 105 hostages in return for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The current round of talks is based on Israel’s May 27 proposal. The talks stalled in June, but picked up in early July, as Hamas signaled its tentative approval.
