Egyptian sources said that hostage talks had been halted until Israel can demonstrate it is serious after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas attempts to change the deal and the IDF targeted Mohammed Deif, who heads the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza.
“I am not moving one millimeter from Biden’s agreement. I am not adding conditions and not taking them out,” he told reporters during a press conference.
“I am also not letting Hamas move one millimeter,” he said. “You should know that Hamas asked for 29 changes to the proposal,” Netanyahu stressed.
“I told the negotiating team and the Americans that there can’t be even one change,” the prime minister said. He held up one finger to underscore the message.
Two Egyptian security sources said on Saturday night that Gaza ceasefire talks had been halted after three days of intense negotiations failed to produce a viable outcome.
The sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that the behavior of the Israeli mediators revealed “internal discord.”
According to the sources, the Israeli delegation would give approvals on several conditions under discussion, but then come back with amendments or introduce new conditions that risked sinking the negotiations.
The sources said the mediators viewed the “contradictions, delays in responses, and the introduction of new terms contrary to what was previously agreed” as signs the Israeli side viewed the talks as a formality aimed at influencing public opinion.
At his press conference on Saturday night, Netanyahu said that for months, negotiations were halted because the military pressure was not great enough, which is one of the reasons Israel had to enter Rafah in May.
“There was intense international and American pressure not to enter Rafah.
“I told my friend, President Biden, we don’t have a choice. We will enter Rafah. I will enter Rafah. Because if we leave Hamas there, we won’t return the hostages, and we won’t be victorious over Hamas. And we entered Rafah,” Netanyahu said.
After that, things began to move, he said.
The combination of military pressure and a firm adherence to “our principles” is what makes the difference, Netanyahu said.
What are Netanyahu’s red lines for negotiations?
Netanyahu repeated his five red lines for the negotiations, which he said were within the framework of the deal.
Two of those were his adherence to the Biden proposal of May 31 as well as his commitment to achieving the Gaza war’s objectives: Destroying Hamas and ensuring the release of the 120 remaining Gaza hostages.
Top among the other three red lines was preventing arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. This means, Netanyahu said that Israel must retain control of the buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza known as the Philadelphi Corridor and of the Rafah crossing along that border.
On Friday, Netanyahu dismissed a report in Reuters that he had considered such a withdrawal. His office stressed that he had made this clear to the negotiating teams, to the security cabinet, and to the United States.
During his press conference on Saturday night, he asked, “What does one expect – that we will let arms continue to flow in from Egypt? If so, then what have we achieved” by going to war in Gaza?
The same is true for his red line of preventing the return of armed terrorists and weapons to the northern section of Gaza, Netanyahu explained.
Last, he said, he was committed to ensuring the return of the maximum number of live hostages during the first phase of the deal.
Netanyahu addresses the hostage families
To the hostage families, he said, “I know how much you are suffering due to uncertainty, but I want to tell you one thing for certain: We are not giving up on anyone, and we will do everything to return everyone.”
The best way to do this, Netanyahu stated, “is to stand firm on the principles. If we stand firm on these principles, we will reach an agreement that will free our hostages – the lives and the spaces – and allow us to continue the war until victory.”
Hamas’s deputy leader, Khalil al-Hayya, told Al Jazeera that Deif was not killed during the IDF’s strike on him in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Saturday.
“We say to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu that Deif is listening to you right now and mocking your lies,” al-Hayya said.
He accused Netanyahu of attempting to assassinate Deif in the midst of intense negotiations for an agreement so that he could embarrass the mediating countries of Qatar and Egypt and pressure Hamas into making concessions.
“Netanyahu does not want an agreement” or to return the hostages, al-Hayya claimed. “Netanyahu’s behavior is that of someone in crisis who has been cornered,” he charged, adding that Hamas has presented its latest amendment to the deal to the mediators and is awaiting Israel’s response.
Netanyahu, in his press conference, also addressed the situation in the North, where close to 60,000 Israelis have been unable to live in their homes since October 7 due to the cross-border violence there between the IDF and Hezbollah.
“I am aware of your great difficulty. I admire and appreciate your steadfastness. We are not ready to accept the situation created in the North,” he said.
“We will work to return you safely to your homes in full safety one way or another. We are committed and determined to change the security reality in the North not for a few days, not for a few months – but for generations, and we will do so,” Netanyahu said.
Reuters and Darcie Grunblatt contributed to this report.
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