Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Tomer Neuberg/Flash90
Then-Energy Minister Israel Katz attends a conference in Tel Aviv, March 13, 2023
(JNS) — Israel has pressured Hamas to the extent that a hostages-for-ceasefire deal with the Iranian-backed terrorist organization may be possible, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.
“There is a chance that this time we will really be able to advance a hostage deal,” Katz said during a visit to soldiers at an Air Force base in central Israel, according to Hebrew media reports.
Earlier on Wednesday, Qatar-owned Al-Araby Al Jadeed reported that an Israeli delegation led by Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Ronen Bar will travel to Egypt on Thursday for renewed hostage talks.
Citing “informed sources,” the London-based news outlet claimed that Cairo had prepared a new draft proposal to serve as a basis for negotiations following “strong indications” by Hamas of willingness to sign a deal.
Egypt was said to have informed the Biden administration and the team of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump of threats by Hamas that further pressure on the Palestinian terror group and its political leadership could “pose a threat to the lives” of the remaining captives.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for his “strong statement” calling on Hamas to unconditionally release the 101 hostages it has held in the Gaza Strip for 425 days.
“It is a forceful statement, which makes it clear that there is only one responsible for this situation, and that is Hamas,” Netanyahu stated. “President Trump put the emphasis in the correct place, on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary in some places.”
In his Monday statement, Trump vowed that there will be consequences if Hamas does not release the hostages before his Jan. 20 inauguration.
“If the hostages are not released prior to Jan. 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as president of the United States, there will be all hell to pay in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America,” he added.
Earlier this week, a senior Hamas official told AFP that the terror group is sitting tight until global pressure forces Jerusalem to end the war.
“Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are making great efforts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange,” said the Hamas official, who was part of a Sunday meeting on the topic in Cairo, referring to a possible exchange of hostages held for Palestinian terrorists jailed in Israel.
“Our Palestinian people are waiting for American and international pressure on Netanyahu to stop the war and reach an agreement, as happened in Lebanon,” the official explained.
Jerusalem believes that 97 of the 251 hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, assault remain in Gaza after 425 days. Hamas is also holding two civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014.
The official figure includes 84 men, 13 women and two children under the age of five, among them 87 Israeli citizens and 10 foreign nationals — eight from Thailand, one from Nepal and one from Tanzania.
A total of 105 hostages were released in a November 2023 ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, with four having been returned before the deal. Eight hostages have been rescued alive by Israeli forces. The bodies of 37 have been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by Israeli troops.
On-and-off indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to renew last year’s hostage release agreement have dragged on for months, with the United States, Egypt, Qatar and others acting as intermediaries.
Cairo this week also hosted separate negotiations between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah Party aimed at signing a deal on joint management of Gaza after the war. The proposal, which Jerusalem opposes, would follow a truce with Israel, negotiators said on Tuesday.
