Report: Gallant says if deal not reached in next 2 weeks, hostages’ fate is ‘sealed’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said in recent closed meetings that if a hostage and ceasefire deal isn’t reached in the next two weeks, the abductees’ fate will have been “sealed,” the Ynet news site reports, without citing sources.

The outlet says Gallant believes conditions have ripened for a deal with Hamas, but says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hindering progress in order to not lose the support of far-right elements of the coalition.

The report says the negotiating team believed a deal could have been signed even a week ago, citing a breakthrough, but adds that new conditions since announced by Netanyahu are threatening negotiations.

The heads of the IDF, Shin Bet and Mossad all believe agreements are unlikely to be reached that meet Netanyahu’s demands that Israel remain on the Gaza-Egypt border and physically inspect anyone returning to Gaza’s north. All three have reportedly told Netanyahu there is no security impediment to approving a deal that doesn’t include those demands.