Latest news with #hostageRelease
News24
3 days ago
- Politics
- News24
Gaza truce deal weeks, not a day away, says Israel official as sticking points hamstring progress
A Gaza ceasefire deal is unlikely by the end of the week, says an Israeli official. Israel and Hamas have yet to reach agreement on the main sticking points. US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza. Israel and Hamas may be able to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal within one or two weeks but such an agreement is not likely to be secured in just a day's time, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. Speaking during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, the official said that if the two sides agree to a proposed 60-day ceasefire, Israel would use that time to offer a permanent ceasefire that would require the Palestinian militant group to disarm. If Hamas refuses, 'we'll proceed' with military operations in Gaza, the official said on condition of anonymity. US President Donald Trump met Netanyahu on Tuesday for the second time in two days to discuss the situation in Gaza, with the president's Middle East envoy indicating that Israel and Hamas were nearing an agreement on a US-brokered ceasefire proposal after 21 months of war. Trump had previously predicted that a deal could be reached this week, raising speculation about a possible announcement before Netanyahu leaves for Israel on Thursday. READ | Israel minister demands Netanyahu ends Gaza ceasefire talks with 'Hamas murderers in Doha' On Wednesday, however, Trump appeared to extend the timeframe somewhat, telling reporters that while an agreement was 'very close', it could happen this week or even next - though 'not definitely'. A source familiar with Hamas' thinking said four days of indirect talks with Israel in Qatar did not produce any breakthroughs on main sticking points. The Israeli official, who briefed reporters in Washington, declined to provide details on the negotiations. Trump's Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the anticipated agreement would involve the release of 10 living and nine deceased hostages. Netanyahu's visit came just over two weeks after the president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes. Trump then helped arrange a ceasefire in the 12-day Israel-Iran war. Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images Trump and his aides have tried to seize on any momentum created by the weakening of Iran, which backs Hamas, to push both sides for a breakthrough to end the Gaza war. The Gaza conflict began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed approximately 1 200 people and saw 251 hostages taken, according to Israeli figures. Around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory war has killed more than 57 000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble. Netanyahu has used his US visit to publicly thank Trump for joining with Israel in striking Iran. Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images Trump has repeatedly declared that the US bombing of three of Iran's nuclear sites had 'obliterated' them, though some experts have questioned the extent of the damage and raised the possibility that Iran had secreted away part of its enriched uranium stockpile before the strikes. The Israel official said Israeli intelligence indicated that Iran's enriched uranium remained at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, the sites that the US hit in June, and had not been moved. The official suggested, however, that the Iranians might still be able to gain access to Isfahan but it would be hard to remove any of the material there. Iran has always denied seeking a nuclear weapon.
LBCI
3 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Israel military chief says 'conditions created' to advance Gaza deal
Israel's military chief said on Wednesday that "conditions have been created" for the advancement of a hostage release deal in Gaza, as indirect negotiations were underway between Israel and Hamas. "We have achieved many significant results, we have caused great damage to the governance and military capabilities of Hamas," armed forces chief, Eyal Zamir, said in a televised speech. "Thanks to the operational power that we have demonstrated, the conditions have been created to advance a deal to release the hostages." AFP
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Trump says Gaza ceasefire possible this week or next
President Donald Trump said there is a 'very good chance' of a ceasefire in Gaza this week or next, after meeting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for the second time in two days to discuss the situation. 'We have a chance this week or next week,' Trump told reporters. Israel's military chief said on Wednesday 'conditions have been created' for the advancement of a hostage release deal in Gaza, as indirect negotiations were under way between Israel and Hamas. 'We have achieved many significant results, we have caused great damage to the governance and military capabilities of Hamas,' armed forces chief Eyal Zamir said in a televised speech. 'Thanks to the operational power that we have demonstrated, the conditions have been created to advance a deal to release the hostages.' Earlier the same day, Israel's foreign minister voiced confidence about reaching a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, despite no immediate signs of a breakthrough in ongoing talks Hamas. Gideon Saar maintained that Israel was serious about wanting to reach a deal to end the 21 months of bitter fighting in the devastated territory, and believed it was 'achievable.' 'If a temporary ceasefire is achieved, we will negotiate on a permanent ceasefire,' he added in a speech in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, as the indirect talks between the two sides stretched into a fourth day in Doha.
LBCI
4 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Axios: Qatari delegation visits US for Gaza ceasefire talks
Axios reported, citing a knowledgeable source, that a Qatari delegation arrived at the White House on Tuesday for talks on a potential hostage release deal and a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. According to the report, the Qatari delegation held several hours of meetings with senior White House officials ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Reuters
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Netanyahu to meet Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas discuss ceasefire
WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV, July 7 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials hold indirect talks with Hamas, aimed at a U.S.-brokered Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal. Trump said on Sunday there was a good chance such a deal could be reached this week. The right-wing Israeli leader said he believed his discussions with Trump would help advance talks underway in Qatar. It will be Netanyahu's third White House visit since Trump returned to office in January, and follows Trump's order last month for U.S. air strikes against Iran and a subsequent ceasefire halting the 12-day Israel-Iran war. Israel is hoping that its 12-day war with Iran will also pave the way for new diplomatic opportunities in the region. Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, said he expected Trump's meeting with the Israeli leader would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalising ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia. "I think it will first of all be focused on a term we have often used but now has real meaning; a new Middle East," he told Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Monday. Ahead of the visit, Netanyahu told reporters he would thank Trump for the U.S. air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and said Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar's capital. Israel and Hamas were set to hold a second day of indirect talks in Qatar on Monday. An Israeli official described the atmosphere so far at the Gaza talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, as positive. Palestinian officials said that initial meetings on Sunday had ended inconclusively. A second Israeli official said the issue of humanitarian aid had been discussed in Qatar, without providing further details. The U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the war entirely. Hamas has long demanded a final end to the war before it would free remaining hostages; Israel has insisted it would not agree to halt fighting until all hostages are free and Hamas dismantled. Trump told reporters on Friday it was good that Hamas said it had responded in "a positive spirit" to a U.S.-brokered 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal, and noted that a deal could be reached this week. Some of Netanyahu's hardline coalition partners oppose ending the fighting but, with Israelis having become increasingly weary of the 21-month-old war, his government is expected to back a ceasefire. A ceasefire at the start of this year ended in March, and talks to revive it have so far been fruitless. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its military campaign in Gaza and sharply restricted food distribution. "God willing, a truce would take place," Mohammed Al Sawalheh, a 30-year-old Palestinian displaced from Jabalia in northern Gaza, told Reuters on Sunday after an Israeli air strike overnight. "We cannot see a truce while people are dying. We want a truce that would stop this bloodshed." The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates. Trump has been strongly supportive of Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics last month by lashing out at prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges Netanyahu denies. Trump, who has faced his own legal troubles, argued last week that the judicial process would interfere with Netanyahu's ability to conduct talks with Hamas and Iran. Trump said he expected to discuss Iran and its nuclear ambitions with Netanyahu, lauding the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as a tremendous success. On Friday, he told reporters that he believed Tehran's nuclear program had been set back permanently, although Iran could restart efforts elsewhere. Trump insisted on Friday that he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, and said Tehran wanted to meet with him. Iran has always denied seeking a nuclear weapon.
