Israeli negotiators “have never been closer to an agreement” on the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce in the war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli defense minister said Monday , Israel Katz.
“We have not been this close to an agreement on the hostages since the previous agreement,” the minister declared before members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Israeli Parliament, his spokesperson told AFP, confirming remarks made by Mr. Katz during this closed session and quoted in the Israeli press.
“Regarding the possibilities of reaching a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement between the occupation (Israel, Editor’s note) and the resistance (Hamas and other Palestinian groups, Editor’s note), “I think we’re actually closer than we’ve ever been before, if (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu doesn’t intentionally derail things like he’s done every time.” declared to AFP, on condition of anonymity, a Hamas official contacted in Doha.
In November 2023, a one-week truce, the only one so far in the war triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, allowed the release of 105 hostages held in the Gaza Strip and that of 240 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.
All mediation efforts led by Egypt, the United States and Qatar since then to try to obtain a new truce have failed.
At the beginning of November, Qatar announced that it was suspending its efforts, criticizing the two belligerents for their total lack of desire to reach an agreement.
But in recent weeks, diplomatic efforts have resumed, this time led jointly by Washington, Cairo, Doha and Ankara.
On Thursday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Israel that he had the “impression” that Mr. Netanyahu was ready for an agreement to release the hostages kidnapped on the 7th. October last year.
With AFP
