Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers on Monday that “some progress” had been made in negotiations to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, more than 14 months into the war.
His comments in parliament come two days after Palestinian militant groups said in a rare joint statement that a deal for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and to exchange prisoners was “closer than ever.”
In recent days, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States took place in Doha, rekindling hope of an agreement that has proven elusive.
“Everything we are doing cannot be disclosed. We are taking actions to bring them back. I wish to say cautiously that there has been some progress, and we will not stop acting until we bring them all home,” Netanyahu said in parliament, on the same day he took the stand again at his ongoing corruption trial.
“I want to say to the families of the hostages: We are thinking of you and we will not give up on your loved ones, who are our loved ones as well.”
Hostage families have questioned the sincerity of government negotiation efforts, and critics have long accused Netanyahu of stalling in truce talks, prolonging the war partly to appease his far-right coalition partners.
On Saturday, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said progress had been made.
“The possibility of reaching an agreement (for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal) is closer than ever, provided the enemy stops imposing new conditions,” the groups said after they held talks in Cairo.
During the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, 251 people were abducted, of whom 96 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the military.
– ‘Full force’ –
Negotiations have faced multiple challenges since a one-week truce in November 2023, with the primary point of contention being the establishment of a lasting ceasefire.
Another unresolved issue is the territory’s post-war governance.
Hamas’s armed wing said the fate of some of the hostages depends on how Israeli forces carry out their offensive.
“If the occupation army advances even a few hundred metres more in some areas where they are already on the ground, it will decide the fate of some of the enemy’s hostages,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on Monday.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week, Netanyahu said: “I’m not going to agree to end the war before we remove Hamas.” He added Israel is “not going to leave them in power in Gaza, 30 miles from Tel Aviv. It’s not going to happen.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on October 23 that Israel had “managed to dismantle Hamas’s military capacity” and eliminated its senior leadership. With those successes, he said, it was time to “get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow.”
Israel’s military on Monday said three soldiers were killed in northern Gaza, the focus for weeks of an offensive Israel said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.
In parliament, Netanyahu also warned the Iran-backed Huthi rebels of Yemen, who last week fired two missiles at Israel, including one that injured 16 people in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv on Saturday.
“I have instructed our forces to destroy the infrastructure of Huthis because anyone who tries to harm us will be struck with full force. We will continue to crush the forces of evil with strength and ingenuity, even if it takes time,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli warplanes retaliated against ports and energy infrastructure, which the military said contributed to Huthi rebel operations, after a rebel missile badly damaged an Israeli school last week. The Huthis said the Israeli strikes killed nine people.
– ‘Seize this opportunity’ –
On Saturday, the United States struck targets in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, hours after the Huthis hit Tel Aviv with a missile.
American and British forces have repeatedly struck rebel targets in Yemen this year in response to Huthi attacks on shipping in Red Sea-area waters vital to global trade.
Netanyahu also stated that he wanted to sign new peace accords with Arab countries, similar to the “Abraham Accords” negotiated in 2020 under Donald Trump’s first United States administration. Those agreements saw Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco establish formal ties with Israel.
“Moderate Arab countries view Israel as a regional power and a potential ally. I intend to seize this opportunity to the fullest,” he said.
“Together with our American friends, I plan to expand the Abraham Accords… and thus change even more dramatically the face of the Middle East.”
Netanyahu also said that Israel would not allow “terrorist entities to settle close to our communities” near the border with Syria.
“It is a fight for our existence, for the state of Israel. We must defend our borders,” he said.
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