From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 3, 2025
Netanyahu’s office denies report he wants to convince Trump to strike Iran before 2nd stage of Gaza deal
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The Prime Minister’s Office denies a Channel 12 news report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to ask US President Donald Trump to carry out a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and close a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia before moving on to the second stage of an ongoing hostage release-ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“It is a total lie that harms the families of the hostages,” says the PMO.
The report had claimed that the plan would entail postponing the second stage of the deal with Hamas, currently in its initial phase, for several months, and that Netanyahu’s reported deliberation over removing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar from the Gaza negotiating team is related.
As per the terms of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, negotiations for the second phase of the agreement were meant to begin today.
The second phase of the deal is expected to include the return of all the remaining living hostages — including men under the age of 50 and male soldiers — held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for a yet-to-be-determined number of Palestinian security prisoners and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
The Times of Israel Community.