Representatives from Hamas, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States met in Cairo on Saturday for talks on a possible hostage deal, while Israel delayed sending a delegation until the terror group gave a response to the latest proposal on the table.
Netanyahu opted not to send a delegation without consulting with War cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Mintier Ron Dermer were privy to the decision, according to media reports.
Egyptian sources said CIA Director William Burns arrived in Cairo already on Friday. KAN News reported that the US has pushed Israel to send a delegation to join the talks as protestors and relatives of the hostages rallied in Tel Aviv demanding that the government finalize a deal now.
The rally was held amid a flurry of media reports that expressed optimism and pessimism regarding the potential for a deal, in a process that appeared to hit a crucial point, even as it remained stymied over a basic disagreement as to whether a deal would include an Israeli promise to end the war.
Channel 12 reported that the US had given Hamas a guarantee that the deal would lead to the end of the war.
An Israeli diplomatic source emphasized that Israel was determined to continue the war, irrespective of any hostage deal.
Reports that “Israel agreed to the end of the war as part of a hostage deal or that Israel would allow the mediators to provide guarantees for the end of the war are not true,” the source stated.
“Up to this moment, Hamas has not given up its demand for an end to the war, thus thwarting the possibility of reaching an agreement,” the source said.
Earlier the source issued a similar message, stating that “Israel will under no circumstances agree to the end of the war as part of an agreement to release our hostages.”
“The IDF will enter Rafah and destroy the remaining Hamas battalions there - whether or not there will be a temporary lull for the release of our hostages,” the source stated.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Netanyahu has warned Hamas that Israel would embark on a military operation in Rafah within a week if there was no response to a hostage deal.
Israel has viewed a Rafah operation as an important pressure lever to sway Hamas to make a deal for the remaining 132 hostages. It has been presumed that the first phase of what would be a three-phase deal would see the release of 33 of the hostages over 40 days, with a focus on the female, elderly, and informed captives, including the female soldiers.
Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas official and advisor to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday meetings with Egyptian and Qatari mediators had begun and Hamas was dealing with their proposals "with full seriousness and responsibility."
However, he reiterated the group's demand that any deal should include an Israeli pullout from Gaza and an end to the war, conditions that Israel has previously rejected.
"Any agreement to be reached must include our national demands; the complete and permanent ending of the aggression, the full and complete withdrawal of the occupation from Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their homes without restriction, and a real prisoner swap deal, in addition to the reconstruction and ending the blockade," the Hamas official told Reuters.
The Hamas delegation arrived from the terror group's political office in Qatar, which, along with Egypt, has tried to mediate a follow-up to an initial hostage deal in November, that saw a brief lull in the fighting.
Before the talks began there was some optimism over a potential deal.
"Things look better this time but whether an agreement is on hand would depend on whether Israel has offered what it takes for that to happen," a Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediation efforts, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
Washington has urged Hamas to agree to the deal.
Hamas said on Friday it would come to Cairo in a "positive spirit" after studying the latest proposal for a deal, little of which has been made public.
Israel's reported preliminary agreements
Israel has given a preliminary nod to terms which one source said included the return of between 20 and 33 hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a weeks-long suspension of fighting.
That would leave around 100 hostages in Gaza, some of whom Israel says have died in captivity. The source, who asked not to be identified by name or nationality, told Reuters their return may require an additional deal with broader Israeli concessions.
"That could entail a de facto, if not formal, end to the war - unless Israel somehow recovers them through force or generates enough military pressure to make Hamas relent," the source said.
Egypt made a renewed push to revive negotiations late last month, alarmed by the prospect of an Israeli assault against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter near the border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
A major Israeli operation in Rafah could deal a huge blow to fragile humanitarian operations in Gaza and put many more lives at risk, according to UN officials. Israel says it will not be deterred from taking Rafah eventually and is working on a plan to evacuate civilians.
Saturday's Cairo talks come as Qatar reviews its role as mediator, according to an official familiar with Doha's thinking. Qatar may cease hosting the Hamas political office, said the official, who did not know if, in such a scenario, the Palestinian group's delegates might also be asked to leave.
The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 hostages taken.
According to Hamas, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war started. Israel has said that at least 13,000 of the fatalities are combatants.
Maya Gur Arieh contributed to this report.