Netanyahu Dashes Hopes for Gaza Ceasefire Deal

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the Air Force Command, accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, earlier this month (dpa)
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the Air Force Command, accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, earlier this month (dpa)
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Netanyahu Dashes Hopes for Gaza Ceasefire Deal

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the Air Force Command, accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, earlier this month (dpa)
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the Air Force Command, accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, earlier this month (dpa)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that fighting in Gaza would resume following any hostage deal with Hamas, according to a report on Monday on Channel 12 website.

His statement reinforced fears that the PM has no intention of ending the war and leaving the Strip anytime soon.

“If there is a deal—and I hope there will be—Israel will return to fighting afterward. There’s no reason to obscure or conceal this because resuming fighting is intended to complete the war’s objectives. This doesn’t obstruct a deal; it encourages one,” Channel 12 quoted the premier as saying.

The PM’s recent remarks came while negotiations for the release of hostages faced difficulties due to two issues: A request for Hamas to hand over a list of the names of detainees, whether alive or dead. Meanwhile, the movement insists that a proposed deal include the terms for an end to the war.

Channel 12 said the remarks sparked fresh concerns among members of the hostage negotiating team, who believe that such comments have made it more difficult to secure a deal.

They said Netanyahu’s statements reinforce Hamas' fears that the PM does not intend to reach the later stages of a ceasefire deal.

Mediators are actively seeking to reach an agreement before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in about 20 days.

Channel 12 said Netanyahu's comments raised serious concerns that even in a partial agreement, the first stage of the envisioned three-phase deal, would not bear fruits.

Netanyahu has long insisted to resume fighting after any deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The PM said neither Hamas nor the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority should govern the territory, and that Israel will keep “full security control.”

Palestinians, Arabs and Americans fear that Israel intends to establish a military rule in the Gaza Strip. Israeli military and security service leaders oppose the idea and demand an immediate replacement for Hamas.

On Tuesday, the Yedioth Ahronoth quoted senior Israeli army officials as saying that failure to plan for Gaza's future governance could lead to a relapse of conditions that existed before the October 7 attack. “It’s that simple,” one official said.

Security officials emphasize that without decisive action on post-war governance, Hamas could rebuild its political power and regain control of Gaza.

“In the absence of an alternative, Hamas will inevitably return to power. Decisions must be made now, before any hostage deals or ceasefire agreements,” officials said.

This concern resonates within both the Israeli army and the Shin Bet. While Hamas’ military capabilities have been decimated, officials caution that the group’s political infrastructure remains intact.

A senior Israeli official said that according to Netanyahu, even if a deal is made, Israel would return to the fighting in Gaza until it achieves its declared goals, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

“The prime minister is in the opinion that there can be no plan for the day after the war until all of Hamas's capabilities are destroyed,” the official said, adding that there have been discussions in the appropriate forums on the matter.

He said: “the policy of the prime minister in Gaza is that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority (PA) would govern Gaza, including having responsibility over distribution of humanitarian aid.”

“The security agencies are considering alternatives and would continue to do so. Cutting Hamas off from aid distribution is meant to prevent the terror group from controlling the civilian population and to bring about the release of hostages,” the official said.

Amos Harel, a military analyst for the Haaretz newspaper, wrote that Netanyahu is unwilling to take the extra step to reach a deal, for a variety of political, personal and strategic reasons.

He said Netanyahu needs the war to continue to justify his moves up to now, and in order to prevent the establishment of a state commission of inquiry over the failures that enabled the October 7 attack, and in order to continue, under the fog of war, with his judicial coup legislation.



Hamas Says Ready to Free All Hostages at Once in Gaza Truce Phase Two

The sun sets behind heavily damaged residential buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 17, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
The sun sets behind heavily damaged residential buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 17, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Hamas Says Ready to Free All Hostages at Once in Gaza Truce Phase Two

The sun sets behind heavily damaged residential buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 17, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
The sun sets behind heavily damaged residential buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 17, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Hamas signaled on Wednesday that it was willing to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during the next phase of an ongoing ceasefire.  

Israel and Hamas are currently in the process of implementing phase one of the fragile truce, which has held since taking effect on January 19 despite accusations of violations on both sides.  

Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday that talks would begin "this week" on the second phase, which is expected to lay out a more permanent end to the war.

"We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages as in the current first phase," senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP.

He did not clarify how many hostages were currently being held by Hamas or other armed groups.  

Nunu said this step was meant "to confirm our seriousness and complete readiness to move forward in resolving this issue, as well as to continue steps towards cementing the ceasefire and achieving a sustainable truce".  

Under the ceasefire's first phase, 19 Israeli hostages have been released so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails in a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps.  

Wednesday's offer came after Israel and Hamas announced a deal for the return of all six remaining living hostages eligible for release under phase one in a single swap this weekend.  

Hamas also agreed on Tuesday to return the bodies of eight dead hostages in two groups this week and next.  

After the completion of the first phase, 58 hostages will remain in Gaza.  

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said on Wednesday that it would release the body of Israeli hostage Oded Lifshitz on Thursday. The group said Lifshitz was one of the hostages killed during Israeli strikes on Gaza.  

- 'Room to pressure Hamas' -  

Muhammad Shehada, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that after more than a year of devastating Israeli assault in Gaza, "Hamas wants to prevent the war resuming at any cost", albeit with some "red lines".  

"And one of those red lines is that they should continue to exist, basically, whereas (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's position is that they should dismantle themselves," he said.  

Since the start of the war, Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas's capacity to fight or govern, something the group has rejected.  

But the appearance that Washington is now in complete alignment with Netanyahu's government, as displayed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit this week, strengthened the Israeli premier's hand in negotiations, according to Michael Horowitz, an expert at the risk management consultancy Le Beck International.  

It gives Netanyahu "more room to pressure Hamas", Horowitz said, adding that US President Donald Trump "prefers that the agreement moves forward, but he's leaving the field open to Netanyahu... as long as the ceasefire is maintained".  

- 'Held onto hope' -

Among the bodies Hamas said it would hand over on Thursday are those of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who have become national symbols in Israel of the hostages' ordeal.  

The boys' father Yarden Bibas was taken hostage separately on October 7, 2023, and was released alive during an earlier hostage-prisoner swap.  

While Hamas said Shiri Bibas and her boys were killed in an Israeli air strike early in the war, Israel has never confirmed this, and many supporters remain unconvinced of their deaths, including members of the Bibas family.  

"I ask that no one eulogize my family just yet. We have held onto hope for 16 months, and we are not giving up now," the boys' aunt, Ofri Bibas, wrote on Facebook late Tuesday following Hamas's announcement.  

Israeli authorities have confirmed that the remains of four hostages are due to be returned on Thursday, although they have not officially named them.  

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has acted as go-between in the exchanges, called for a respectful handover of the hostages' remains.  

"We once again call for all releases to be conducted in a private and dignified manner, including when they tragically involve the deceased," it said.  

Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, of whom 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.  

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.  

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,297 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.  

Since the war began, Israeli forces have detained hundreds of Gazans, some of whom have been released in previous rounds of hostage-prisoner exchanges.