Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled to lawmakers that an agreement on the war on Gaza could be near.
“I want to cautiously say that there has been progress and that we will not stop acting until we bring them all home,” Netanyahu told parliament on Monday, referring to Israeli captives held in Gaza since October 2023.
He told the Knesset that he did not know how long it would take and could not release details, but that his administration was taking serious steps to bring back the captives.
Discussions over a possible ceasefire deal have intensified in recent days as Israel and Hamas held indirect talks in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also said progress had been made after their Saturday meeting in Cairo.
They said the possibility of reaching a deal was closer than ever, after Hamas said in a statement that a deal would be possible if Israel stopped imposing new conditions.
Numerous rounds of negotiations have taken place since the start of the war, following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas and others, in which some 250 people were taken to the Gaza Strip and more 1,100 people were killed.
An estimated 96 of the captives remain in the besieged enclave, including the bodies of 34 people confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a week-long truce in late November, and four others were released before that, but no negotiations have since produced results as the Israeli military has stepped up its attacks on Gaza.
At least 45,317 Palestinians have been killed and 107,713 injured by the Israeli army since the start of the war, and dozens more have been killed in daily strikes in the enclave.
Israeli forces continue to impose a heavy, more than 80-day siege on northern Gaza, where hundreds of people have been killed by bombs and shelling, while only 12 humanitarian aid trucks have been allowed in since. early October.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, the largest partially operational health facility in the north, is also under daily attack. Israeli forces detonated remotely operated vehicles, injuring at least 20 patients and medical staff overnight. Hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safia said the attacks were aimed at “killing and forcibly displacing” the hundreds of people inside.
Netanyahu touts his military achievements
During his speech on Monday, Netanyahu also said that Israel had made “great progress” militarily on several fronts, and that military pressure had forced Hamas to soften its previous demands.
The Palestinian group had argued that it wanted the Israeli army to completely withdraw from the enclave, including the Philadelphia Corridor bordering Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor set up to separate the northern and southern parts of Gaza.
Hamas also called for increased humanitarian aid for the starving population and an attempt to rebuild the enclave.
But Israel has signaled its intention to rebuild illegal settlements in Gaza, with a coalition government and far-right lawmakers last week formalizing legislation allowing freedom of presence and movement of Israeli civilians in the enclave.
The attack on northern Gaza was widely described as an attempt to “ethnically cleanse” Palestinians from their land.
Israel’s parliament added $9 billion to the country’s 2024 budget on Tuesday, with the vast majority of funds earmarked for defense spending.
Netanyahu is “heading towards a position where he has to accept a deal soon,” Rami Khoury, a distinguished professor at the American University of Beirut, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Sticking to his military strategy “has not brought him the political dividends he needs for his Israeli public audience,” he said.
The Israeli government has been unable to devise a political strategy that matches its military prowess, based on support from the United States, he said.
“It is incredible that with the total power of the United States and Israel and the help of the United Kingdom, Germany and others, Hamas has not capitulated,” he said. declared.
“The Israelis are getting to the point where they can politically accept Hamas’s main demands and, in return, they get what they want, which is permanent security guarantees from the United States, with certain arrangements that could impact the Arab region. “, he said.
The Israeli prime minister has been repeatedly accused of sabotaging numerous ceasefire talks in Gaza, including by imposing sudden new conditions and escalating military attacks.
The families of captives held in Gaza, who stage weekly protests in Israel, have also accused him of prioritizing his own political survival and his alliance with far-right lawmakers over the captives.