From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Report: ‘Very senior Egyptian figures’ fume at Israelis for failing to respond to latest ceasefire proposal
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“Very senior figures in Egypt” have conveyed to their Israeli counterparts their “disappointment, frustration and anger” that Israel, after eight days, has failed to respond to the latest ceasefire and hostage-release proposal that Hamas claims to have accepted, Channel 12 reports.
“With considerable pressure, we got Hamas to agree to 98% of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s demands, but [Israel] has yet to respond to us with a proper answer, and all we’re hearing is that ‘Netanyahu wants something else,'” the TV report quotes unnamed senior Egyptian officials saying.
“This is strange and unacceptable behavior. There is an opportunity to reach an agreement and secure the release of at least 10 living hostages, and Israel is simply turning its back,” the Egyptian officials reportedly say.
Netanyahu has publicly ruled out any further phased ceasefire and hostage-release deals, and is instead demanding a comprehensive agreement in which all the captives held by Hamas would be freed at once, along with other demands including the demilitarization of Gaza. Another of Netanyahu’s demands is for Gaza to be governed by “Arab forces” affiliated with neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
Earlier tonight, the security cabinet met briefly but reportedly did not discuss a response to the current hostage-ceasefire proposal.
Channel 12 reports that an Egyptian delegation visited Israel yesterday, attempting to work out the situation.
A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman earlier today also said Qatar had not yet received a response from Israel to the latest ceasefire proposal, which he said met almost all of Israel’s demands. “The ball is now in Israel’s court, and it seems that it does not want to reach an agreement,” the spokesman said.
The Channel 12 report speculates that Israel and the US might be holding off on a deal so that US President Donald Trump could announce it on a potential visit to Israel next month.
The Times of Israel Community.