“We have never been so close to an agreement” on hostages in Gaza, assures Israeli Defense Minister

Of the 251 people kidnapped on Israeli soil on October 7, 96 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Jewish state’s army.

Israeli negotiators “have never been so close to an agreement” with a view to the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce in the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Monday, December 16. “We haven’t been this close to a hostage deal since the previous deal”declared the minister before members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Israeli Parliament, comments confirmed to AFP by his spokesperson.

In November 2023, a one-week truce, the only one so far in the conflict, 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. But in recent days, Washington says it has seen “encouraging signs” regarding a possible ceasefire in the enclave ravaged by 13 months of war.