Sources: PM ‘taking dangerous bet on hostages’ lives’ by toughening negotiating stance
Mossad chief, CIA head, Qatari and Egyptian officials set to meet in Rome; White House spokesman: ‘Closer’ then we’ve ever been to deal
Members of the Israeli team negotiating for the release of hostages held by Hamas believe that conditions recently added by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the hostage-ceasefire proposal currently on the table are “intended to cause a crisis” that will force the terror group to bend, according to sources close to ongoing talks cited by Hebrew media on Friday. But it’s a risky calculation that could delay a deal and cost hostages’ lives, they reportedly fear.
“He thinks that if he hardens positions, Hamas will break, but he’s taking a dangerous bet on the lives of the hostages,” the sources were quoted as saying by outlets including the Kan broadcaster and the Ynet news site.
“There is no more time,” the sources said.
They added that Netanyahu had “built up expectations before his trip to the US so that we can improve our position afterward.”
“Netanyahu is single-minded, and his position does not allow for negotiations to begin,” the sources continued. “It’s not clear if he wants a deal.”
Netanyahu three weeks ago issued four nonnegotiable demands that are not specifically set out in the last formal Israel proposal, which was conveyed to Hamas and detailed by US President Joe Biden at the end of May. These demands include a mechanism to prevent armed gunmen returning to northern Gaza, and ongoing Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border corridor. Netanyahu has said Hamas submitted 29 changes it seeks to the Israeli offer. The prime minister is also reported to be seeking a written commitment from Biden that Israel would have the right in principle to resume the war against Hamas after the first 42-day phase of the proposed three-stage deal.
The prime minister is currently in the US, having addressed a joint session of Congress and met with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday, as well as former US president Donald Trump in Florida on Friday.
The premier’s speech to US Congress disappointed relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the October 7 attack, who hoped he would commit during his address to a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, talks for which are said by some senior officials to be in the home stretch.
Families of American-Israeli hostages who met with Biden and Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday said they were told Israel would submit an updated deal proposal to Hamas within days.
When asked about a potential deal, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told the Kan public broadcaster on Friday that “we’re as close now as we’ve ever been, closer I’d say.”
Before speaking to Congress, Netanyahu delayed the departure of the negotiating team for talks in Qatar, though he said during his speech he was doing everything in his power to bring the hostages home.
In talks with Trump in Florida on Friday, Netanyahu said that he was sending a negotiating team to Rome, “probably at the beginning of the week.”
Earlier in the day, it was reported that CIA Director William Burns was set to meet in the Italian capital with Mossad chief David Barnea, along with Egypt’s spy chief and Qatar’s prime minister, for talks on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas.
According to the Axios report, the meeting will focus on strategy moving forward rather than closing the remaining gaps in the deal currently on the table.
Meanwhile, Biden and Jordan’s King Abdullah discussed efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza during a call on Friday, the two sides said.
In a statement, the White House said Biden briefed Abdullah on “preparations for a surge in humanitarian assistance during a ceasefire period.” They also discussed reforms to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and ensuring it has access to revenue, the White House said.
Jordan’s royal palace said the two men discussed what it described as the “dangerous developments in Gaza.”
Abdullah reaffirmed “the important role of the United States in creating a political horizon to achieve just and lasting peace on the basis of the two-state solution,” the palace said in a statement.
Hamas terrorists kidnapped 251 people during their October 7 rampage across southern Israel, which also saw them kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 330.
