Hostages’ families leave meeting with PM with questions on when 2nd phase of deal will begin

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has wrapped his meeting with the first of two groups of hostages’ families at his office in Jerusalem.

Several of those who were in the first meeting tell Channel 12 that they left with lots of questions unanswered, particularly regarding when the second and third phases of the deal will commence.

The first stage of the deal is slated to last six weeks and see the release of 33 hostages — the remaining women, elderly and severely ill hostages.

The deal on the verge of being inked stipulates that on the 16th day of the first phase, Israel and Hamas will begin negotiations regarding the terms of the second stage during which the remaining living hostages will be released. If talks have not completed by the end of the first phase, the sides will be urged by the mediators to continue negotiating until the terms of the second phase are reached.

Netanyahu has preferred the staged framework, rejecting a one-stage deal for all of the hostages in exchange for Israel permanently ending the war, arguing that doing so would allow Hamas to remain in power.

Hamas has sought assurances from the mediators that the first phase will lead immediately to the second phase, which is supposed to end with the declaration of a permanent ceasefire. The third phase is slated to see the release of remaining bodies of slain hostages.

Sharon Sharabi, whose brothers Yossi and Eli are held in Gaza, tells reporters after the meeting that the government should not agree to wait until the 16th day to start negotiations on the terms of the second phase, arguing that these talks should commence right away. Yossi Sharabi was accidentally killed in an IDF strike, while Eli Sharabi is believed to be alive.

The first meeting at the premier’s office lasted 45 minutes, with Netanyahu telling the families that talks are advancing and that he is doing everything he can to bring about the release of all 98 hostages, Channel 12 reports.

Netanyahu highlighted how Israel’s military successes over the past several months led Hamas to compromise on some of its positions. He says that the deal will allow Israel to remain in the first phase in the Philadelphi Corridor along with a buffer zone along the Israel-Gaza border.