From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Report: PM, ministers agree on response to Hamas hostage deal counter-offer, forward it to mediators
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Israel Katz agreed on Israel’s response to Hamas’s counter-offer to a US proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal at their meeting yesterday, Army Radio reports.
The response has been forwarded to mediators, the report says.
Officials are now awaiting the terror group’s response, Army Radio says.
The most recent US proposal offered a 60-day truce in the war-torn Gaza Strip, accompanied by a partial Israeli military withdrawal and increased humanitarian aid deliveries, in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages.
Hamas’s response to the offer included a demand that would make it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire were not completed by the end of the 60-day truce.
It also envisioned the release of the 10 living hostages being spread out throughout the truce, rather than in two batches on the first and seventh day as the US offer had stipulated.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 55 hostages, including 54 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.
They include the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.
The Times of Israel Community.