Netanyahu hints new negotiations underway to recover Gaza hostages

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28, 2023. ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to confirm on Saturday that new negotiations were underway to recover hostages held by Hamas after a source said Israel’s intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar, a country mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a televised press conference a day after Israeli forces mistakenly killed three of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas, Netanyahu called the conflict an existential war that must be fought until victory, despite pressure and costs, and said Gaza would be demilitarized and under Israeli security control.

He said Israel’s offensive in Gaza had helped clinch a partial hostage-release deal in November and vowed to maintain intense military pressure on Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza and that he has vowed to destroy.

“The instruction I am giving the negotiating team is predicated on this pressure, without which we have nothing,” he said.

READ: Israeli hostages killed in Gaza were holding white flag – official

Netanyahu spoke after the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, and attention turned to a possible new Gaza truce and a prisoner and hostage deal.

Netanyahu sidestepped a question about the meeting, but confirmed he had given instructions to the negotiating team.

“We have serious criticisms of Qatar … but right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said, alluding to the gas-rich Gulf state’s ties to Hamas and Israel’s arch-foe Iran.

A Hamas statement said the group “affirms its position not to open any negotiations to exchange prisoners unless the aggression against our people stops once and for all,” adding: “The movement communicated this position to all mediators.”

READ: Explainer: What’s the Israel-Palestinian conflict about and how did it start?

Israel bombarded targets across Gaza on Saturday, but two Egyptian security sources said Israeli officials now appeared more willing to work towards a ceasefire and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israel’s counterattack on Gaza – after a surprise cross-border assault on Oct. 7 in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured 240 hostages – has killed close to 19,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. Thousands more are feared buried under rubble.

An Israeli military official said the three hostages killed had been holding a white flag, according to an initial inquiry. Their deaths have put increased pressure on Netanyahu to find a way to secure the release of those held.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said that another hostage, 27-year-old Inbar Haiman, 27, “has been murdered in Hamas captivity.” The post gave no more details.

READ: Netanyahu says Gaza war entered new stage: It will be ‘long, difficult’

As Netanyahu spoke, several hundred people staged a protest in Tel Aviv, with some holding placards, including one saying “get them out of hell.” A speaker shouted: “Bring them home now!”

The meeting in Europe was apparently the first between senior officials from Israel and Qatar, which has been acting as a mediator, since the collapse of a seven-day ceasefire in late November.

Combat has intensified in the past two weeks since the truce, which had allowed dozens of Israeli hostages held in Gaza to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Israeli targets across Gaza on Saturday included a crowded YMCA building, and Palestinian health officials reported dozens killed or wounded in attacks, despite a renewed US call to scale down the campaign and focus on Hamas leaders.

The YMCA has been sheltering hundreds of displaced people.