From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 5, 2025
Israel trying to ‘leverage’ Trump’s Mideast visit to push Hamas toward hostage deal, Israeli official says
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Israel is trying to “leverage” US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region next week, in combination with the mass call-up of reservists, to push Hamas to accept a hostage release deal, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
In addition, the official says, Qatar is no longer “putting spokes in the wheels” of the Egyptian proposal for a deal.
“We hope that all these factors will come together in the coming days and maybe will lead to a deal,” says the official. “We are giving this time to Hamas. We are saying, take this deal now, because if we start a war and there is a deal, it will be under far worse circumstances for you. Take the deal, because now there is an opportunity, a window.”
The deal would see Hamas release 6-8 living hostages in the first stage, before the sides would enter talks on the end of the war.
“Both sides would bring up their demands. We, of course, would bring up our conditions for Hamas’s surrender. Exile, release of the hostages, and everything that goes along with that.”
“If we come to an agreement, that is, if Hamas agrees to the Israeli conditions — because that is the only way we will reach an agreement — then the rest of the hostages would be released and the war would end.”
There are currently no plans or preparations for Trump to visit Israel next week, says the official: “But Trump being Trump, he could get up one morning and decide that he is coming.”
The US “are coordinated with us” on the expansion of the Gaza operation, says the official. “They are also working for the destruction and defeat of Hamas. They wanted to see this happen already.”
During the Gaza operation, according to the official, civilians will be moved south of the Morag Corridor, where they will undergo security checks and where humanitarian aid will be distributed.
The official denies that Netanyahu is frustrated with Trump’s Middle East policy.
“Trump and the prime minister see eye-to-eye on the danger of a nuclear Iran,” says the official. “They are 100 percent aligned on this danger, on the need to deal with this threat. In the last phone call, Trump also told the prime minister that he supports ending Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity as a condition for reaching a nuclear agreement. That’s what we want.”
The Times of Israel Community.