Israel and Hamas say they are 'close' to a new agreement to free hostages

LNegotiations for the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce in the war between Israel and Hamas are well underway. “We have not been this close to an agreement on the hostages since the previous agreement,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Israeli Parliament on Monday, December 16. , his spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“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 to the goal than we've ever been before, if (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu doesn't intentionally derail things like he's done every time,” he said. at the AFP, on condition of anonymity, an official of the terrorist group contacted in Doha.

ALSO READ Gaza: Israeli-American hostage calls on Trump and Netanyahu to reactIn November 2023, a one-week truce, the only one so far in the war triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil, allowed the release of 105 hostages held in the Strip. Gaza and that of 240 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.

Netanyahu gives “the impression” of being ready

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Since this first truce, all mediation efforts, carried out jointly by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, have failed. At the beginning of November, Qatar even announced that it was suspending its efforts, reproaching the two belligerents for their total lack of desire to reach an agreement. But in recent weeks, diplomatic efforts have resumed, this time led by Washington, Cairo, Doha and Ankara.

Last Thursday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Israel that he had the “impression” that the Israeli prime minister was ready for a deal to release the hostages. . Benyamin Netanyahu met Adam Boehler, appointed by American President-elect Donald Trump to be his special envoy for the hostages.