Israel said reviewing truce deal okayed by Hamas despite PM’s seeming dismissal of offer

Two Israeli officials said Tuesday that, contrary to statements issued by a “senior Israeli official” in recent days, Jerusalem is studying the proposal for a phased hostage-ceasefire deal that Hamas on Sunday said it had agreed to.

The terror group’s announcement came days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who for months pushed a phased-deal — said that going forward he will not accept any agreement that does not involve the return of all hostages in one go.

It also came as hundreds of thousands protested Sunday across Israel demanding a comprehensive deal, and opposing the government’s recently-approved plan to take over all of Gaza City.

Netanyahu has not officially responded to the latest proposal, though he said Monday, “Hamas is under immense pressure.”

In response to media inquiries, the Prime Minister’s Office reiterated in a statement Tuesday the cabinet’s conditions for ending the war: the disarmament of Hamas, the return of all living and dead hostages, the dismantling of the terrorist organization’s governing apparatus, the establishment of Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip, and an alternative civilian government that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.

On Sunday, Hamas said it had accepted a deal based on the so-called “Witkoff framework,” which would commit the terror group to release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 of the slain hostages, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release by Israel of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, amid talks for a permanent end to the war.

In exchange for each living hostage, the deal would see Israel release 60 Palestinian security prisoners serving sentences of at least 15 years, and would in total release 140 prisoners serving life sentences; Israel would over 1,000 Gazans detained without charge by the IDF since October 7; and that for each slain hostage’s body, ten bodies of dead Palestinian prisoners would be returned, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The terror group’s turnaround came after Netanyahu publicly changed his position on partial deals, and after the security cabinet approved the plan to capture and hold all of Gaza City in the northern Strip.

The takeover idea was reportedly opposed by senior military officials, who are said to have warned ministers that it would endanger the remaining hostages, of whom 20-22 are believed to be alive. Nevertheless, on Tuesday night, Defense Minister Israel Katz met with senior officers to approve plans for the operation.

Two Israeli officials said Tuesday that Jerusalem is studying the hostage-ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas, and that Netanyahu is expected to convene discussions about it soon.

A response is expected in the coming two days, said a Palestinian source close to the talks.

The comments contrasted a statement issued by a “senior Israeli official” earlier in the day, echoing a nearly identical statement with the same attribution the night before, which asserted that “Israel’s policy is consistent and has not changed.”

“Israel demands the release of all 50 hostages in accordance with the principles set by the cabinet for ending the war. We are at the final stage of decisively defeating Hamas, and we will not leave any hostage behind,” the statement read.

After backing and even leading the partial-deal approach for over a year, Netanyahu shifted to opposing the phased framework over the past several weeks, instead demanding a comprehensive deal that sees all of the hostages released in one batch in exchange for an end to the war that sees Hamas disarmed and Gaza demilitarized.

Hamas has long offered to return all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war, but it has not accepted Israel’s conditions.

Channel 12 reported Tuesday that the message from those close to the premier is: “This proposal is no longer relevant, we are now discussing only the capture of Gaza City,” but that behind the scenes, negotiators are indeed looking at the proposal, and speaking with mediators about it.

The network quoted a senior security official as having said: “Following Hamas’s response — the chance of a deal in the Witkoff framework has increased significantly.”

The TV report also said that Netanyahu’s about-face on phased deals came from three main assessments: that Hamas is under pressure, and this can be exploited; that Israel is under such pressure internationally that it must end the war soon; and that Hamas will not, in the end, release the last 10 living hostages, but Israel may still be prevented from resuming the war to free them.

US ‘continuing to discuss’ proposal

The White House meanwhile said Tuesday that the US “continues to discuss” the latest proposal.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Hamas accepted this proposal after the president of the United States posted a very strong statement about this conflict on Truth Social yesterday,” added press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a press briefing.

Trump posted on Sunday, “We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be.”

An Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel, however, that Hamas already approved the proposal by the time Trump issued his tweet.

Also Tuesday, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the proposal accepted by Hamas “includes a clear path to a permanent ceasefire, and we consider it the best that can be offered under the present circumstances.”

Ansari confirmed that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman al-Thani joined the talks in Egypt on Monday in what led to Hamas’s positive response to the mediators’ proposal — one that Arab officials told The Times of Israel is nearly identical to the one submitted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff in May.

“The atmosphere surrounding the talks is positive,” Ansari said during a press conference.

“We hope to reach an agreement as soon as possible, and if an understanding is reached, it must be implemented immediately without delay,” he added.

Dermer said to visit UAE for Gaza talks

Additionally, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer recently visited the United Arab Emirates to discuss Gaza, amid the renewed negotiation efforts.

Dermer, a close confidant of Netanyahu who took the helm of Israel’s negotiating team earlier this year, made the secret trip with a high-level delegation, the Kan report said. He reportedly met with Emirati officials and, alongside Gaza, discussed security and diplomatic affairs.

His office had no comment, according to Kan.

The report came amid widespread protests, led by freed hostages and the families of some who remain, demanding a comprehensive deal that would end the war in exchange for the return of all the captives, living and dead.

A “day of action” on Sunday calling for a comprehensive deal saw hundreds of thousands of people gather in central Tel Aviv, and even more around the country, as well as a major strike, which was joined by hundreds of local authorities, businesses, universities, tech companies and other organizations.

In a statement Tuesday addressed to Netanyahu, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said, “This is your last chance to sign an agreement for the return of the 50 hostages,” and expressed frustration that a security cabinet meeting has yet to be called this week on the matter.

“We demand a comprehensive deal for the return of all our hostages, and we demand that a negotiating team go out immediately with a clear mandate to finalize the details of the proposed deal and present a plan for the return of the very last hostage and the end of the war,” the forum said.

“If this agreement, too, is torpedoed by the prime minister, the nation of Israel will again take to the streets en masse — until all 50 of our hostages are returned,” it said.

The group added that in light of the latest proposal, it had changed the format of nationwide protests planned for next Sunday.

Instead of holding a mass rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, the forum said it will organize events across the country calling for an immediate agreement, with the large demonstration postponed to an undisclosed later date. The weekly Saturday night rally in Tel Aviv will still proceed as planned.

Hawkish hostage families urge PM to reject phased deal

Amid the mass protests calling for a deal, the Tikva Forum, a smaller group representing more hawkish hostage families, urged the government to reject the proposal currently on the table.

“If Hamas wants a partial deal, that means we have to do exactly the opposite: If Hamas wants a partial deal, that means it takes seriously our intention to capture Gaza City; so it’s exactly what we want to do,” said Zvika Mor, whose son Eitan Mor is held hostage.

“Mr. Prime Minister, do not, under any circumstances, go forward with a partial deal, period,” he said.

The Tikva Forum, which has opposed the two previous hostage deals, has long argued that partial deals mean some hostages — in particular male soldiers — will be left behind, and that Israel’s security overall will be hurt by freeing prisoners and allowing Hamas to regroup; it has argued that overwhelming military pressure, by contrast, will force the terror group to give up all the captives.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.

Hamas released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March, and one additional hostage, a dual American-Israeli citizen, in May as a “gesture” to the United States. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.

Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 49 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.