Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed U.S. President Joe Biden during a phone call that Israel has decided to send a delegation to negotiate with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, "Hamas," regarding hostages. The statement noted that Netanyahu reaffirmed to Biden that Israel will not end the war until "all its objectives are achieved."
In this context, the "Israeli Broadcasting Authority" reported that the head of the Mossad will lead the Israeli delegation in the hostage deal discussions. According to "Channel 12," the Israeli security cabinet is currently meeting to discuss the exchange deal.
Despite agreeing to send a delegation to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and prisoners, Netanyahu returned to "square one," a fundamental disagreement with Hamas. An Israeli official stated that Netanyahu agreed to send a team for negotiations in an effort to reach an agreement for the release of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire with Hamas. However, during the meeting with his negotiators, Netanyahu again emphasized that "the war will not end until all its objectives are achieved, not even for a moment before that."
For Netanyahu, the war's objectives include eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel, alongside the return of the hostages detained in the territory. These goals are at odds with Hamas's conditions in previous negotiation rounds, as the group insists on a complete end to the war and the total withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza.
It remains unclear where the next round of talks will be held, noting that previous meetings occurred in Cairo and Doha. On Wednesday, Netanyahu's office announced that Israel received Hamas's latest response to an Israeli proposal and would consider it on Thursday.
Media sources pointed to "signs of a breakthrough" in the stalled deal, which has been under negotiation for months. An Axios reporter cited an Israeli official saying, "In the past few days, even before Hamas sent its response, there were indications of a willingness to show flexibility and enter into the deal, even at the risk that only the first phase might be realized."
In paragraph 14 of the proposal, Hamas requested that the mediators, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, commit to negotiating and ceasing hostilities until an agreement on the second phase of the deal is reached. A senior Israeli official explained that "after Netanyahu agreed to send the negotiating team to Qatar or Egypt, it will be necessary to investigate the outstanding issues, such as the identity of the prisoners to be released, the conditions for that, the ceasefire, and the deployment of the Israeli army." The official added that "such a deal would take two to three weeks."
