Unlock the Publisher’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Israel’s war cabinet met Friday to discuss Hamas’ latest response to a potential ceasefire deal in the Gaza war that would also allow the release of Israeli hostages.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been trying for weeks to bridge the significant gap between the two warring sides as part of complex talks aimed at halting fighting in Gaza and securing the release of more than 130 hostages held by Hamas.
Part of the deal would also call for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons and a vast increase in humanitarian aid and supplies entering Gaza.
However, the prospects of a breakthrough appeared dim as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the terms offered were unlikely to be acceptable. “Hamas continues to make unrealistic demands,” Netanyahu’s office said Thursday evening, after the Palestinian militant group submitted its response to international mediators.
According to a Reuters report, Hamas is now offering a two-stage deal under which first Israeli women – including female soldiers – children, the elderly and the wounded held in captivity would be released in exchange for more than 700 Palestinian prisoners, including of whom 100 are serving life sentences for convictions on terrorism charges. Mediators had previously said the initial truce would last six weeks.
The second phase of the deal, according to Hamas’ response, would include discussions regarding a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
“There is a positive movement. But [we are] we’re not there yet,” said a person briefed on the talks.
As the war cabinet and the expanded security cabinet discussed Hamas’s latest offer, the meetings were already scheduled in advance, according to a person familiar with the Israeli government’s deliberations.
Relatives of those seized during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 have implored the Netanyahu government to seize the opportunity.
“Do not postpone the agreement,” the Hostages’ Families Forum said Thursday evening. “For the first time, we can imagine hugging them again. Please grant us this right.”
About 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage during the raid in southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Last November, more than 100 hostages were released as part of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas wanted to use the hostages as leverage to end the war completely, while Netanyahu remains committed to continuing the offensive – even if temporarily halted – until “total victory” over the militant group.
Israeli intelligence believes Hamas will attempt to use the holy month of Ramadan, which began this week, to “ignite the region” in a bid to increase both diplomatic and military pressure on Israel. Hamas leaders have called on all Palestinians to march on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque and barricade themselves inside, in an attempt to “defend” the site, considered the third holiest site in Islam.
Israeli authorities have beefed up their security presence around the complex, revered as Judaism’s holiest site and known as the Temple Mount. The site has been a constant flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with concerns that this year in particular the confluence of Ramadan and the ongoing war in Gaza could increase tensions.
Israeli police said on Friday that midday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque had so far taken place without any major incidents, as tens of thousands of worshipers celebrated the first Friday of the Muslim holiday.
Hamas’ attack on southern Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 31,300 people and fueled a humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave.