Israeli negotiating team postpones departure to Qatar for hostage talks
Team had been scheduled to fly out Thursday, but will now only do so next week; official source says delay meant to allow Netanyahu to first discuss matters with Biden on Thursday
An Israeli delegation of negotiators will not travel to Qatar on Thursday to discuss a hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza as previously planned, delaying their departure, a senior Israeli official said Wednesday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the reason for the delay was the postponement of the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden from Tuesday to Thursday, adding that the premier intends to discuss the emerging deal with the president to weigh how to proceed.
The source also said the negotiating team will depart for talks after the meeting, but did not say when. Hebrew media outlets reported the delegation may only leave next week.
The source emphasized that negotiators are continuing conversations with Arab mediators remotely despite the delay.
Families of hostages held by Hamas expressed outrage at the report that the delegation’s trip was delayed.
“Instead of proclaiming before Congress that he accepts the deal on the table, Netanyahu is stopping the deal from going ahead for personal reasons,” said Einav Zangauker, mother of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker.
“Even if we learn of additional dead hostages in the Hamas tunnels, he will continue on his public relations tour of the US and continue dragging his feet,” she added.
Earlier in the day, Zangauker, who published footage on Tuesday of her son’s kidnapping, said “almost 60 families” have seen footage of their loved ones from when they were abducted or early in their captivity, adding that families should all be allowed to publicize the material if they want to as part of the struggle for the hostages’ release.
The hostage families held a protest march from Dizengoff Square to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv Wednesday to watch Netanyahu’s address, followed by a rally.
Meanwhile, National Unity party chief Benny Gantz called on Netanyahu to “put your money where your mouth is” regarding a hostage deal, arguing that the prime minister was delaying a deal for political reasons.
“The outline we drew up for the return of the hostages in the war cabinet about two months ago,” which was subsequently publicly presented by US President Joe Biden, “could have been advanced weeks ago and it should be implemented in a short period of time,” Gantz told reporters in the Knesset.
“The hostages do not have another day, and there is not another minute. Since the previous outline, we have lost a quarter of the living hostages,” he said.
“We have a moral obligation to return everyone — the living, as well as those who died — to their families. The fact that the Israeli delegation has been waiting without instructions for over a week, because at the political level, there are those who are waiting for the recess of the Knesset in order to move forward, is the painful proof that political considerations have penetrated the holiest of holies of Israel’s security and matters of life and death.”
Netanyahu is believed to fear agreeing to a deal will cause his far-right partners Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to bolt the coalition, as they have warned they will do, as they fear it will end the war before Hamas is fully defeated.
“Mr. Prime Minister, if you stand behind the outline we agreed on together” then it is time to “put your money where your mouth is,” he said, switching briefly to English.
“If you do not intend to return the hostages because you think the plan is not good enough and cannot guarantee Israel’s security, stand up before the citizens of Israel and tell them the truth — however complex, difficult and painful it may be. Political considerations must not come before the security of the country, its resilience, and the return of the hostages,” Gantz said.
He emphasized that Netanyahu “will receive full backing from the people, and political backing as well” if he approves the proposal, allowing Israel to pivot to restoring security in the north.
During the Hamas October 7 onslaught, which saw some 1,200 people killed, most of whom were civilians, Hamas terrorists also kidnapped 251 people.
It is believed that 120 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 44 confirmed dead by the IDF.
The proposed deal would first include a “full and complete” six-week ceasefire that would see the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During these 42 days, Israeli forces would also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza.
Over that period, Hamas, Israel, and mediators would also negotiate the terms of the second phase that could see the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers. In return, Israel would free additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The third phase would see the return of any remaining hostages, including bodies of dead captives, and the start of a years-long reconstruction project.
