Dermer said to tell cabinet partial Gaza deal no longer an option

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told a high-stakes cabinet meeting last week that Israel did not have the time or latitude needed to try and reach a partial ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, and must pursue all-or-nothing negotiations, according to reports in Hebrew media.

Dermer, who has been Netanyahu’s point man in dealings with the Trump administration, told the cabinet that Israel did not have the time required to reach a partial truce releasing some hostages, during which a full hostage release deal ending the war would be negotiated, Channel 12 news and Ynet report. Such a proposal had been on the table before talks fell apart earlier this summer.

The comments were made during a meeting last week at which senior ministers voted on a plan to order the IDF to take over Gaza City. The plan pushes an expansion of military activity, rather than a resumption of proximity talks with Hamas, over the protests of hostage families and military brass.

The reports, which contain nearly identical quotes of Dermer, but do not attribute them to any sources, note that the minister cited American opposition to allowing a return to fighting.

“We don’t have all the time [we want], also from the Trump point of view,” the reports quote him saying. “He cannot allow the war to continue for a long time.”

Dermer told ministers that “assuming talks continue for a long time, we can’t afford a partial deal. I’m not sure that after a 60-day truce we’ll have the leeway to return to fighting,” according to the reports.

Responding to his comments, Netanyahu reportedly asked Dermer, “So if Hamas comes with a partial deal, we refuse?”

To which Dermer is said to have replied: “If there’s a proposal like that, it seems so.”