As Blinken arrives in Israel, Netanyahu vows to stick to demands on hostage talks
Pressure must be applied to Hamas in order to reach an agreement, says PM, appearing to lower expectations as talks continue in Cairo with US expressing optimism
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Shortly before the top US diplomat arrived in Israel Sunday to press for a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that he was sticking to his demands, urging more pressure on an inflexible Hamas, potentially attempting to lower expectations as Washington has expressed optimism.
“I want to emphasize,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, “we are conducting negotiations [“give-and-take” in Hebrew], and not give-and-give. There are areas where we can show flexibility, and there are areas where we can’t show flexibility — and we are standing firm on them. We know quite well how to distinguish between the two.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived on Sunday evening for his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war broke out with the Hamas attack on October 7. He is set to meet Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, as the White House indicates that a deal is ready to be closed.
Mid-level Israeli negotiators held talks in Cairo on Sunday after two days of discussions in Qatar sparked some optimism among the mediating countries. Working groups remain in Doha.
“We are closer than we have ever been,” US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday.
“Alongside the great efforts we are making to return our abductees,” said Netanyahu at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, “we stand firm on the principles we have established, which are essential to Israel’s security.”
He claimed that the principles are “consistent with the May 27 outline, which received American support,” though he has been widely reported to have since made demands that aren’t featured in that proposal.
On May 31, Biden publicly presented Israel’s proposal, which had been shared with the White House four days earlier.
The framework for the deal included three stages, with the first six-week period seeing a pause in Israeli ground operations and withdrawal of troops in exchange for the release of 33 hostages in the categories of women, children, elderly and wounded, alongside Israel freeing 990 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas — as well as some analysts and Israeli protesters — have accused Netanyahu of hamstringing a deal to safeguard his ruling coalition, whose hard-right flank wants the war to continue until Hamas is destroyed.
However, speaking with reporters about the talks in Doha last week, a US official said the Israeli team dispatched to Qatar was now “clearly empowered,” in an apparent nod to Netanyahu, who has been accused of not giving his negotiators enough leeway to secure a deal.
In his remarks Sunday, Netanyahu insisted that it is Hamas that is refusing to close a deal: “It did not even send a representative to the talks in Doha. The pressure should be directed at Hamas and [its leader Yahya] Sinwar, not at the Israeli government.”
“Strong military pressure, and strong diplomatic pressure, is the way to achieve the release of our hostages,” said Netanyahu, in a message likely aimed at Washington.
One of the outstanding issues is the future of the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt. Despite the matter not being mentioned in the May 27 proposal, Netanyahu has demanded an ongoing Israeli presence along the border in order to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into Gaza and reconstituting its military.
However, Israeli and other sources have said that Israel’s security chiefs believe withdrawing from the Gaza border for the six weeks of the deal’s first phase would not enable Hamas to rearm significantly, and that certain unspecified procedures along the border could compensate for an Israeli withdrawal from the border area. Channel 13 news, citing Egyptian sources, said Israel and Egypt were working on an arrangement as regards the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Border Crossing.
Disagreements between Israel, Hamas and Egypt over the future of the Philadelphi Corridor are “solvable,” unnamed senior Israeli officials told Kan news on Sunday. There are ongoing discussions in Cairo on the matter, and a solution is possible based on an American proposal, the officials said.
The US has been working on a “bridging proposal” designed to enable the finalizing of a hostages-for-ceasefire deal in the coming week. But it does not provide for an ongoing Israeli presence along the Gaza-Egypt border or for a mechanism in central Gaza to prevent the return of armed Hamas forces to the Strip’s north, Hebrew media reported Saturday, citing unnamed officials familiar with the talks.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-owned Asharq news outlet gave a somewhat different account of the American proposal, citing a Hamas source.
In the proposal, the IDF would maintain a reduced presence at the Philadelphi Corridor, but would not withdraw, said Asharq. The Palestinian Authority would return to manage the Rafah Border Crossing under unspecified “Israeli supervision.”
The report also said that Israel would be able to monitor the displaced people returning to their homes in northern Gaza and crossing the Netzarim Corridor, which currently bisects the Strip east to west and is controlled by the IDF. No details were given on how the monitoring would be conducted.
According to the outlet, in the proposal, a large number of the Palestinian security prisoners freed in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages would be deported abroad; Israel would have the right to veto at least 100 names of Palestinian prisoners whose release Hamas demands; and Israel would not be expected to withdraw fully from the Strip, as demanded in a July 2 Hamas proposal.
The Hamas source said that a permanent truce would only be discussed in the second phase of the ceasefire, and if Hamas does not agree to the Israeli conditions, the IDF would be allowed to resume military operations inside the Strip.
Negotiations on Gaza’s reconstruction and on the lifting of the blockade would also be discussed in the second phase, based on the outcome of the first one.
The stakes around a hostage deal and ceasefire have risen further since the late July killings in quick succession of two Iran-backed terrorist leaders, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr, and as the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip has deepened with a feared polio outbreak.
Iran has indicated that it is holding off on striking Israel while the hostage-ceasefire talks are ongoing, but will launch a direct attack if the negotiations fail or it perceives Jerusalem is dragging out negotiations.
The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251. It is believed that 111 of those hostages 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 mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
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 claims more than 40,000 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 17,000 combatants in battle, and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Israel says it seeks to minimize civilian casualties and notes that Hamas fights from homes, hospitals, mosques and schools.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 332.
Gianluca Pacchiani contributed to this report.
