Hamas head Haniyeh to visit Egypt for talks on a swap

Netanyahu meets several hostage families amid murmurs of a possible new swap deal

Some outraged as PM meets handpicked group of relatives; Israel said seeking ‘humanitarian’ deal for 30-40 women, sick and elderly; official says any deal far off and would be costly

Protesters hold photographs of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, as they rally to call for the government to find a means to bring the hostages home, outside the Kirya military HQ in Tel Aviv, December 19, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Protesters hold photographs of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, as they rally to call for the government to find a means to bring the hostages home, outside the Kirya military HQ in Tel Aviv, December 19, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday evening with a few of the families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza, as they piled on pressure for a new hostage release deal amid reports of some progress in indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations on a new deal.

Reports differed as to whether 15 or 19 families met with the premier. The identity of the families at the Tel Aviv meeting was determined by Netanyahu’s hostage envoy, Gal Hirsch, giving rise to controversy, with some families expressing anger that they were left out, amid suggestions Netanyahu chose to keep certain families away.

A previous meeting between hostage families and Netanyahu, alongside other members of the high-level war cabinet, was described as tense and saw some of them lob accusations at the prime minister. In recordings, some attendees could be heard screaming at him to resign.

Netanyahu’s office asserted on Tuesday that a meeting with a smaller number of families would be more productive, and that he will hold several such smaller meetings.

During Tuesday’s sit-down at IDF Headquarters, Netanyahu said he was “personally committed to the release of all the hostages.”

“Retrieving them is a top goal,” he said. “I’ve just sent the head of Mossad to Europe twice to advance a process for the release of our abductees. I will spare no effort on the matter.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on December 10, 2023. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP)

Danny Elgarat, whose brother Yitzhak is held by Hamas, raged at the decision to allow only a few families in.

“He’s talking to 15 families in the room, with 115 families protesting outside… Who is he hearing?” Elgarat told Channel 12. “There was no discussion with us on who would go and who wouldn’t. They just put out a list of names.”

Elgarat accused Netanyahu of “picking up [Hamas Gaza leader] Yahya Sinwar’s methods: He’s meeting us in batches. Today there’s a batch, and who knows when the next will be. Everyone’s anxious to find out if they’re in the next batch or not.”

“He just wants a photo op [showing] there was a good-natured meeting because the last meeting was stormy,” Elgarat said.

There had been intense pressure for a meeting in recent days, particularly following Friday’s accidental killing by the IDF of three hostages who had managed to escape captivity.

Extended members of hostage Elad Katzir’s family outside the Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv, on December 19, 2023. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Though Israeli leaders have asserted that only strong military pressure on Hamas will bring it to the negotiating table, families have expressed growing skepticism of this approach, with calls rising for Israel to halt the fighting and negotiate the freedom of the over 100 hostages still believed held by Hamas and other terror groups in the Strip.

The news of the accidental killings, amid an ever-growing list of hostages confirmed to have died in captivity, sparked intense anxiety among families in Israel, with some relatives fearing their loved ones could be next.

“We only receive dead bodies. We want you to stop the fight and start negotiations,” Noam Perry, daughter of hostage Haim Perry, said at a Tel Aviv rally Saturday organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Netanyahu on Tuesday once again argued that the advancement of the military offensive was key to securing a new hostage deal, and said efforts were being made on multiple fronts.

Families of hostages block the exit of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on December 19, 2023. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Reports of progress

Hamas leaders have publicly said they will only free hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, though reports in recent days have indicated talks for another truce to release more hostages may be advancing.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was set to visit Egypt Wednesday for talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal, a source close to Hamas told AFP.

Qatar-based Haniyeh will head a “high-level” Hamas delegation to Egypt, where he is due to hold talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and others, the source said. The discussions will be “on stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners [and] the end of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip,” he added.

File: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visits the Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s top Sunni religious authority, in Beirut on June 22, 2022. (Anwar Amro/AFP)

The terror group, which rules Gaza, sent thousands of gunmen into Israel on October 7, who killed around 1,200 people and took some 240 hostages, mostly civilians.

It is believed that 128 hostages remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered along with three hostages who were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 21 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

On Tuesday, all three major Hebrew TV networks reported Israel’s approach to negotiations, after what appeared to be a coordinated leak by government officials.

According to the networks, Israel wants a “humanitarian” deal to include women and the elderly. It also wants those of all ages who are physically or mentally ill to be released in this group that it believes can amount to 30-40 hostages.

An Axios report late Tuesday said Israel would be willing to agree a week-long truce in a deal for 40 hostages.

Israel is prepared to negotiate the number of days it will agree to hold its fire as well as the number of and type of Palestinian prisoners it would release in exchange for the hostages, the reports said. It is also prepared to expand humanitarian zones as well as the amount of aid it would let into Gaza.

Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and supporters attend a rally calling for their return, in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The deal would also include a certain concession on the military front, Channel 12 said, adding that the military censor had barred the network from elaborating further.

“Israel is willing to go a long way to return the hostages. The deal, if it goes through, will be difficult and will demand heavy prices. It’s still a long way off and it’s not certain it will succeed. In any case, the ball is currently in the mediators’ court,” a senior Israeli official was quoted as saying.

Monday night saw Hamas publish a new propaganda video showing three Israeli hostages. One man speaking in the video identified himself as 79-year-old Chaim Peri, who was abducted by Hamas from his Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7. The other two hostages were fellow Nir Oz residents Amiram Cooper, 84, and Yoram Metzger, 80.

Only Peri spoke in the video and there was no information indicating when it was filmed, though the men’s appearance indicated it was after some time in captivity.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari swiftly labeled the latest video as “atrocious terror.”

“It shows the cruelty of Hamas against elderly civilians, innocents, who require medical attention,” Hagari said during his daily press briefing Tuesday. “The world must work to allow medical aid and to verify their condition.”

On Tuesday evening, the Islamic Jihad terror group released a video showing two other hostages: Gadi Mozes, 79, and Elad Katzir, 47, both of Kibbutz Nir Oz.

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