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Hostages high on agenda as Israel and Hamas prepare for peace talks
Updated ,first published
Israel has eased strikes on Gaza as it prepares for peace talks with Hamas and the United States to start on Sunday (Monday AEDT), while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped to secure the release of hostages in the coming days.
In a brief statement at the weekend, Netanyahu said he had sent a delegation to Egypt “to finalise technical details,” adding that “our goal is to contain these negotiations to a timeframe of a few days.”
He spoke after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of the US plan and offered to release all hostages, though it did not yet agree to relinquish its weapons or have no role in postwar governance of Gaza.
US President Donald Trump hailed Hamas’ offer as a breakthrough in his bid to end two years of war.
“I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” he said in a social media post on Saturday, urging Israel to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”
He also warned, “Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off.”
Iran-backed militant group Hamas, responsible for the October 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel, still holds about 48 Israeli hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive. On the day of the attacks, 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
Netanyahu, faced with a call by Trump to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza” to build pressure on Hamas to release Israeli hostages, said Israel’s military would redeploy within the territory. He also left open the option of disarming Hamas by force.
Israel would start mediated negotiations with Hamas on Sunday, an Israeli official familiar with the matter said, after Hamas said it wanted to discuss parts of Trump’s 20-point plan to end a conflict that has devastated Gaza and destabilised the Middle East.
Netanyahu said a swap of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners would happen immediately upon securing an agreement, while Hamas’ disarmament would come in a second stage.
“That will happen either diplomatically according to the Trump plan or militarily by us,” he said. “It’ll be achieved the easy way or the hard way, but it will be achieved.”
The prime minister spoke as tens of thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv in support of the deal to end the war. He also faces pressure from those who argue Hamas must be eliminated; far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X that halting attacks on Gaza was a “grave mistake.”
A possible boost to peace hopes came with a supportive statement from the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which is smaller than Hamas but seen as more hardline.
A White House official confirmed US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were travelling to Egypt to finalise the details of the peace negotiations. Details on what Trump’s plan would entail remain scarce.
Israel’s army, which controls about 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip, was assuming a defensive posture by Saturday but had not withdrawn troops, according to an Israeli official, who requested not to be identified by name to discuss confidential matters.
Palestinian witnesses described the fighting as largely subdued. However, bombing continued in Gaza City, killing at least 36 people since Trump called for the bombing to end on Friday.
Eighteen people died in sporadic incidents, while another 18, including children, were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, medics said. The attack damaged several buildings nearby.
Israel said it had targeted a Hamas militant who had posed a threat to its troops in the area, and that reports of casualties were under review. The military “regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians and works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible,” it said in a statement.
Hamas said in a statement that “the continuation of the occupation’s bombing and massacres exposes Netanyahu’s lies about reducing military operations against civilians”.
More than 67,000 Gazans have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory, and the United Nations has reported “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease”.
Two days ago, Israel intercepted an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza, sparking protests around the world.
AP, Bloomberg, Reuters