Israel more optimistic for chances of hostage deal with Trump in White House — official

Israel is more optimistic about its chances for a hostage deal with Donald Trump in the White House, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

“We hope Trump will put pressure on Qatar,” says the official, “and he won’t make it hard for us to apply military pressure in Gaza.”

Qatar recently announced that it would suspend its mediation efforts, but left the door open for returning to that role if the sides showed more seriousness about reaching a deal.

Trump won’t block weapons shipments or try to hold Israel back over humanitarian issues, predicts the official.

Currently, talks are “totally stuck,” says the official, blaming Hamas.

That situation can change, says the official, if more pressure is applied on Hamas, which Qatar could do even though the emirate announced it was temporarily withdrawing from talks.

The official says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not believe that military pressure on Hamas has been exhausted and that Israel “has more options.”

Israel intends “very soon” to start a pilot to start preventing Hamas control over humanitarian aid, says the official. The pilot will take place in a piece of territory in northern Gaza, using a private company. The company will not be US-based Global Delivery Company, whose name was floated last month. “They talk too much,” says the official.