War cabinet to meet to discuss Egyptian proposal to free hostages — report

The war cabinet is meeting tonight to discuss the portion of the Egyptian proposal that would possibly free more hostages held by terrorists in Gaza, Hebrew media reports.

The war cabinet will also discuss developments on Israel’s northern border, following the alleged Israeli strike in Damascus that killed a senior IRGC official, according to Hebrew media reports.

The overall Egyptian plan, said to be rejected by Hamas and Islamic Jihad earlier, would end hostilities in Gaza, have Hamas give up control of the Strip in return for a permanent ceasefire, and release all the remaining hostages, in three stages.

The first stage of the Egyptian plan would be a two-week halt to the fighting, extendable to three or four, in exchange for the release of 40 hostages — women, minors, and elderly men, especially sick ones.

In return, Israel would release 120 Palestinian security prisoners of the same categories. During this time, hostilities would stop, Israeli tanks would withdraw, and humanitarian aid would enter Gaza.

The second phase would see an Egypt-sponsored “Palestinian national talk” aimed at ending the division between Palestinian factions — mainly the Fatah party-dominated Palestinian Authority and Hamas — and leading to the formation of a technocratic government in the West Bank and Gaza that would oversee the reconstruction of the Strip and pave the way for Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections.

The third stage would include a comprehensive ceasefire, the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, including soldiers, in return for a to-be-determined number of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails affiliated with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group — including those arrested after October 7 and some convicted of serious terror offenses. In this phase, Israel would withdraw its forces from cities in the Gaza Strip and allow displaced Gazans from the enclave’s north to return to their homes.

Netanyahu earlier today said Israel was making “every effort” to bring home the hostages, stating that this effort requires “military pressure” to succeed.

“We won’t stop fighting,” he says during a special parliamentary session, also attended by families of the hostages, adding that “we need time.”

“We don’t have time,” one relative calls out from the Knesset gallery, after which the families chant “Now! Now! Now!” demanding the immediate release of the hostages.