At his press conferences with local and foreign media on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dodged questions about partial hostage deals, but newly revealed remarks from Cabinet discussions shed light on what came before.
Netanyahu confidant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer told ministers during last week’s Cabinet session, in which they approved the plan to capture Gaza City, that Washington’s position, as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff had told families, was “all or nothing.” Dermer said that stance remained in place and that he too believed a comprehensive deal, securing the release of all 50 hostages, both living and dead, was preferable.
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US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun, ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP, REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
He noted there was a strong chance mediators would bring a partial deal to the table for negotiations, but in his view, there was no time for that. “We don’t have all the time in the world, not from [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s perspective either. He can’t allow the war to drag on,” Dermer said. “That means that if the talks go on for a long time, we can’t afford a partial deal. By the end of a 60-day pause, we may not have the credit to resume fighting.”
Netanyahu then asked: “So you mean if Hamas offers a partial deal, we refuse?” Dermer replied: “If such an offer comes, we’ll see.”
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told the same Cabinet meeting there was still a chance to implement a framework that would save at least 10 hostages alive, and another 10 if a follow-on agreement were reached.
In his view, an “all or nothing” ultimatum would likely lead Hamas to choose nothing. “It’s clear to me that to achieve this, we need an operational lever, that’s why I support the chief of staff’s proposal to carry out an offensive encirclement of all remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza,” Hanegbi said.
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National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer
(Photo: Emil Salman, Dana Kopel)
After Netanyahu told reporters Sunday he had ordered the IDF “to expedite the capture of Gaza City,” Hamas sources told Ynet that a delegation from the terrorist group was expected to meet on Monday with senior Egyptian intelligence officials.
The sources said talks would focus on “Israel’s threats to capture Gaza City and launch a large-scale military operation there, the latest developments in efforts to renew negotiations on a deal, and the implications of Witkoff’s meeting with Qatar’s prime minister in Ibiza a few days ago.”
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Reports in Arab media on Monday pointed to renewed efforts by mediators to restart Gaza ceasefire negotiations. Lebanon’s Hezbollah-aligned Al-Akhbar newspaper said Cairo is awaiting a Hamas leadership delegation “as part of the efforts led by Cairo and Doha to resume negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip before the launch of a new military operation.” Qatar’s Al Araby channel reported that the delegation will be headed by senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya.
According to Al-Akhbar, Egypt and Qatar are working to craft an “alternative vision” in light of stalled talks. Egyptian sources cited the “ambiguity of the Israeli position and contradictory messages, between delaying a military operation and readiness for immediate action” as complicating factors despite open channels between Jerusalem and Cairo.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement to foreign media
(Video: GPO)
London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Qatari mediators held direct talks with Hamas leaders in Doha last Thursday, during which they discussed new ideas for a ceasefire. Details of the proposal have not been made public, and no date has been set for the next round of negotiations. The report said the proposal may include a compromise between a full and partial deal, maintaining a 60-day or longer ceasefire with U.S. and international guarantees to prevent a return to war.
Al-Akhbar also claimed that the Trump administration has floated a plan to relocate about one million Gazans to Libya. Libyan officials reportedly said the idea of moving Palestinians from Gaza to Libya “is not on the table,” despite ongoing contacts between Tripoli and Washington. Cairo, however, fears Libya’s position could change under Trump’s pressure and has opened its own channels with Tripoli.
On Sunday, Netanyahu told local media that a decisive victory would come through “sophisticated methods that will surprise Hamas.” Afterward, he spoke with Trump. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the two discussed “Israel’s plans to seize the remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza to end the war by freeing the hostages and defeating the terror organization.” Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “steadfast support for Israel since the start of the war.”
Negotiators told reporters the gaps between Israel and Hamas were “small and bridgeable.” Netanyahu, however, claimed Hamas had presented “surrender terms” — the release of imprisoned Nukhba commandos, international guarantees to prevent a resumption of fighting and an Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border — conditions he said “no government would accept.” While Netanyahu insisted there was no chance for a deal, some mediators and negotiation officials argued otherwise, saying an agreement was possible and that Israel “was quick to break off talks.”