Doron Steinbrecher’s mother demands PM not torpedo chance for deal: ‘Hostages are dying’

The mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher insists that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not scupper the chances for a potential deal.

“I demand that the prime minister not torpedo this,” Simona Steinbrecher tells the Kan public broadcaster. “There are hostages who are dying and every day we fear that more will be murdered in captivity.”

“Many times there has been a feeling that there will be a deal soon, and every time someone torpedoes it,” she says.

Israel said last night that it had received Hamas’s response to the latest truce-hostage deal outline, and would evaluate the document before replying.

Hamas later confirmed that it had submitted its latest demands, issuing a statement saying  that it is “eager to reach an agreement to stop the war, and our communication with the mediators continues.”

More than six months of negotiations carried out by mediators including the US, Qatar and Egypt have time and again failed to advance toward a deal that would see the release of the 116 hostages kidnapped on October 7 who are believed to remain captive in Gaza, in exchange for a truce or ceasefire in fighting in Gaza, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails.

The current version of the deal in play is based on a proposal made public at the end of May in a speech by US President Joe Biden, built on a three-stage long-term Israeli outline.

Both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar have been accused of torpedoing the chances for an agreement.