Israel considering alternatives to talks with Hamas, Netanyahu says

Euronews

a day ago

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his government is considering "alternative options" to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the US recalled their negotiating teams from Qatar, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.
Netanyahu's statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic.
The teams left Doha on Thursday as President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas' latest response to proposals for a deal showed a "lack of desire" to reach a truce.
Witkoff said the US would look at "alternative options," without elaborating.
In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, "Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal."
"Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region," he said.
He did not give any further details about what the alternative options might be. Israel's government also didn't respond to whether negotiations would resume next week.
Hamas official Bassem Naim said on Friday that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.
Pressure on Hamas
Hamas said that Witkoff's remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu's benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress.
Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.
The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs.
Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops after any ceasefire takes place.
The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.
The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war.
Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons.
Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.
Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating.
"I thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha," said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage.
"And when I heard that they're coming back, I ask myself: When will this nightmare end?"
Worsening humanitarian situation
A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate in Gaza.
Israel has come under mounting pressure as hunger among Gaza's more than 2 million people has worsened and deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated.
In recent days more then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticising Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out.
The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to access enough food.