E-Paper
Israel ‘closest ever’ to making a deal for release of hostages in Gaza? What defence minister said
In November 2023, a one-week truce led to the release of 105 hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's defence minister Israel Katz has said that Israeli negotiators have “never been closer” to a deal for the release of hostages in Gaza since the November 2023 truce in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, news agency AFP has reported.
"We have not been this close to an agreement on the hostages since the previous deal," Katz told members of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs committee, according to his spokesman.
The remarks came at a time when an Israeli team arrived in Qatar's Doha" to discuss the ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza", according to a source quoted by the new agency.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that meetings were "between Israeli and Qatari working-level teams".
An unidentified official of Hamas also confirmed that negotiations with Israel were underway, including of a ceasefire.
Also Read | Israel to close embassy in Ireland due to Dublin's ‘extreme anti-Israel policy’
"A deal for exchanging prisoners and ceasefire between the resistance and the occupation has actually become closer than ever before, if (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu does not intentionally disrupt the agreement as he has done every time before," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official also added that Hamas had informed the Egyptian and Qatari mediators of its readiness to stop the war.
"But Hamas stressed at the same time that it will not accept anything less than an agreement that leads to a complete and permanent cessation of the war, a full withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes, the return of the displaced, and a serious prisoner exchange deal."
Israel-Hamas war
The war began on October 7, 2023, with an unprecedented attack by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted more than 250, including Israeli-American dual nationals in the attack, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 100 hostages have been freed through negotiations or Israeli military rescue operations. Of the 100 still held in Gaza, roughly half are believed to be alive, according to Reuters.
Also Read | US making fresh efforts for Gaza ceasefire, White House aide Finer says
Israel's response to the attack has led to the killing of more than 45,000 people, mostly civilians and displaced nearly the entire population of the enclave.
In November 2023, a one-week truce led to the release of 105 hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, all mediation efforts have failed to secure a new truce. In September, Qatar announced it was suspending its efforts, blaming both sides for a lack of willingness to reach an agreement.
However, since Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election in November, diplomatic efforts have resumed.
