Netanyahu: There has been an advancement in hostage-ceasefire negotiations

There has been an “advancement” in hostage negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in the Knesset plenum on Monday.

The advancement was “small,” and Netanyahu said that he did not know how much longer the negotiations would take in order to reach an agreement.

Netanyahu argued that there were three reasons for the advancement – the fact that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar has been killed; that Iran and Hezbollah are no longer actively backing Hamas; and that Hamas continues to suffer blows to its structure and organization.

Netanyahu also said that there was a “change” amongst our “neighbors,” that could lead to an enlargement of the “circle of peace.” These were an outcome of “tectonic changes” in the Middle East that were a result of Israel’s actions, Netanyahu said.

The comments came in a plenum debate known as a “40 signatures debate,” which is the Israeli equivalent of the British “Prime Minister’s Questions.” The debate includes short speeches, usually mostly by the opposition, and the responses from the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

End of Iranian regime

While the official topic of the debate was the pending 2025 state budget, most of the speakers criticized the prime minister over his handling of hostage negotiations. They specifically pointed out an interview that Netanyahu gave recently in The Wall Street Journal in which he discussed the deal, despite ordering other ministers to remain quiet in order for the negotiations to succeed.

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid criticized the prime minister over an alleged document bring circulated by Defense Minister Israel Katz that includes principles of a new law regarding the haredi IDF draft. The principles, according to a source, are “general,” but include the draft of 50% of eligible haredim within seven years, as well as “institutional and individual sanctions” for those who oppose the draft.

Lapid argued that the principles de facto would not lead to an increased haredi draft, and this would leave a heavy burden on IDF reservists. Lapid added that the principles were the only reason that the haredim agreed to support earlier voting on the 2025 budget, and accused the government of lying during the voting when they denied the existence of any back-door deals.

Hamas said on Monday that the fate of the hostages depends on advances made by the IDF in some areas seeing aggression, according to the group’s armed wing al-Qassam Brigades spokesman, Abu Ubaida, who announced it via Telegram.

Israeli and Palestinian officials on Monday both said that gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible deal have narrowed, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.

A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.

His remarks corresponded with comments by the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud), who said both issues were still being negotiated. Nonetheless, he said, the sides were far closer to reaching agreement than they have been for months.

“This ceasefire can last six months or it can last 10 years, it depends on the dynamics that will form on the ground,” Chikli told KAN. Much hinged on what powers would be running and rehabilitating Gaza once fighting stopped, he said.

The duration of the ceasefire has been a fundamental sticking point throughout several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel wants an end to Hamas’s rule of Gaza first.

“The issue of ending the war completely hasn’t yet been resolved,” said the Palestinian official.

New Hope-United Right MK Ze’ev Elkin, who is a member of the security cabinet, told Army Radio that the aim was to find an agreed framework that would resolve that difference during a second stage of the ceasefire deal.

Chikli said the first stage would be a humanitarian phase that would last 42 days and include a hostage release.