Netanyahu says Hamas under ‘immense pressure’ after reports it dropped many of its hostage deal demands

Amid reports that Hamas has come down from its previous demands and accepted a proposal from Arab mediators for a hostage deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears largely dismissive, saying the terror group is under “immense pressure,” as Israel advances its plans to take over Gaza City.

Netanyahu says he met earlier today with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz to discuss Israel’s Gaza City takeover “and the completion of our missions.”

“Like you, I hear the reports in the media, and from them, you can get the impression of one thing — that Hamas is under immense pressure,” the premier says, speaking to senior officers at the IDF’s Gaza Division headquarters near the Gaza border community of Re’im, in a video issued by his office.

As talks in Cairo on a partial deal between Arab mediators and Hamas have advanced over the past several days, Netanyahu has insisted he is no longer interested in such proposals and will only agree to end the war if Hamas releases all of the hostages at once, disarms, allows for the demilitarization of Gaza, grants Israel overall security control of the Strip and hands over control to a body other than the Palestinian Authority.

But the Arab mediators are hoping that the rhetoric out of Jerusalem is just a pressure tactic and that Netanyahu will come around if Hamas agrees to walk back the demands it made last month that led to the collapse of talks on a partial deal.