Chances of Israel-Hamas hostage deal 'close to zero'

The United States, which said it was planning to present a new proposal in the next two or three days, is now seen as unworkable, Channel 12 revealed. The channel cited great frustration among Israeli negotiators, who believed that at least a deal could be reached between Israel and intermediaries that would then be passed on to Hamas.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s press conference last Monday, in which he repeatedly stressed the need to maintain IDF control over the Philadelphia Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border—a stance not explicitly stated in the May proposal Netanyahu approved—has “buried” any chance of a deal. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has since hardened his stance.

Prospects for progress were further dented when Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the Philadelphia corridor was not the only “red line,” and he also opposed an IDF withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor and the release of Palestinian security prisoners serving sentences for murder. The stance taken by Smotrich, who heads the far-right Religious Zionist Party, a key component of Netanyahu’s coalition, essentially “scuttled” Israel’s May proposal.

Channel 12 quoted a source close to the talks as saying: "It seems that the current proposal will not materialise at this point. There is no prospect of a phased agreement." The channel said a senior Israeli negotiator had told the hostage families that "even the first phase" of the deal - a six-week ceasefire in which women, children and sick hostages would be released - was unlikely to be implemented. "The only way forward is to end the war," the negotiator was reported to have said, adding: "Keep working to get public support for ending the war."