Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that further negotiations over a cease-fire to release hostages from Gaza were pointless given what he called Hamas’s “delusional demands,” which include Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
These demands, he said, will mean Israel’s defeat. “Clearly, we will not agree to them,” Netanyahu said during a news conference.
Family members of Israeli hostages held protests in Tel Aviv late Saturday for a second night to put pressure on Netanyahu after he pulled his team out of talks in Egypt. Negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States continue.
One person familiar with the discussion, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said Netanyahu’s public statements did not mean he has blocked Israeli negotiators from engaging behind the scenes. More than 100 hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Saturday that Washington was working on a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, “which would bring an immediate and sustained period of calm to Gaza for at least six weeks, and from which we could then take the time and the steps to build a more enduring peace.” She acknowledged that although there were gaps, key elements remained on the table.
President Biden has spoken over the past week to Netanyahu, as well as the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, according to her statement, which came in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution drafted by Algeria that called for an immediate cease-fire. She added that if the resolution were to come up for a vote, Washington would not support it.
Growing protests call on Netanyahu to bring Hamas hostages home
Differences between parties persist, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. “We made some good progress in the last few weeks in the negotiations and we’ve been trying an agreement between the two parties. Yet, the last few days has not been progressing as expected,” he said.
Also at the conference, Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, the foreign minister, said ending civilian suffering in Gaza must be a priority.
“So where we are now is: We’re focused on a cease-fire, we’re focused on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and we’re focused on humanitarian access for the people of Gaza,” he said.
Here’s what else to know
An Israeli raid at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis continued for a third day on Saturday, with Gaza health officials saying that the Israel Defense Forces had arrested “large numbers” of medical and administrative staff. The IDF said early Saturday that it had arrested 100 people at the hospital in southern Gaza who it said are “suspected of terrorist activity.”
Pope Francis met the president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the group said Saturday, sharing a video of the meeting. Younis Al Khatib briefed the pope about the “catastrophic humanitarian conditions” for civilians in Gaza and the group’s efforts to provide relief, its statement said.
At least 28,858 people have been killed and 68,677 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel estimates about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, and says at least 235 of its troops have been killed since its offensive in Gaza began.