Attempts to revive the hostage talks appeared to have failed on Thursday night, as Hamas insisted that Israel must agree to end the war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to speak of victory over the terrorist group.
Hamas informed hostage deal mediators they are ready to reach a “complete agreement,” including a comprehensive swap of captives for security prisoners, but only if Israel would “stop its war and aggression against people in Gaza,” according to a statement the group released on Thursday.
Hamas emphasized that it had been flexible and positive, but that "the occupation used this negotiation to cover up the continued aggression and massacres against our Palestinian people.”
One of the stumbling blocs to the deal, Hamas said, had been Israel’s military campaign in Rafah and its seizure of the Rafah crossing, as it explained that it did not plan to negotiate under fire, especially in light of the “killing, siege, starvation and genocide against our people.”
The movement continued: "We informed the mediators today of our clear position that if the occupation stops its war and aggression against our people in Gaza - we will agree to reach a comprehensive agreement that will include a comprehensive exchange deal."
News that Hamas was standing its ground came as the war cabinet and security cabinet met to discuss efforts to release the remaining 125 hostages.
Israel has persistently refused to meet that demand, and the negotiators, Egypt and Qatar, have been unable to bridge that gap.
There had been a slight hope for a breakthrough after Mossad Chief David Barnea, CIA Chief William Burns, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani met in Paris last weekend. Israel then sent another proposal to Hamas in an attempt to revive the talks, but the proposal did not include an agreement to end the war.
Channel 12 reported on Thursday night that National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi had met with relatives of some of the hostages on Thursday, and clarified that Israel would not end the war to make a deal to free the hostages. He added that it could be possible to do a second humanitarian deal to free some of them.
Terror pressure
In an attempt to pressure Israel to agree to a permanent Gaza ceasefire, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is holding some of the captives, published on Thursday its second video this week showing Israeli-Russian hostage Alexander Sasha Trupanov, 28.
The two videos mark the first signs of life from Trupanov since he was captured during the Hamas-led October 7 invasion of Israel, in which 252 hostages were seized.
As a sign that the second video was fairly recent, at least to the last few weeks, he spoke of the government’s decision to shut down Israel’s Al-Jazeera office this month, as he blamed Netanyahu for failing to make a deal.
Netanyahu’s office published a short statement, taken from an interview he gave to the French television station TF1, in which he spoke of the importance of victory, a message he has been delivering since the start of the war, including this week in the Knesset.
“I say: Our victory is your victory. Our victory is the victory of Israel against antisemitism. It is the victory of Judeo-Christian civilization against barbarism. It is the victory of France,” he told TF1.
Israel’s decision to double down on ending the war came as its military operation in Rafah saw some significant successes this week. The IDF regained tactical control of the strategic Philadelphi Corridor by the Egyptian border, and found 20 tunnels used to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Gaza.
But it also suffered a public relations setback, as a targeted strike against two Hamas operatives backfired. Shrapnel hit explosive material, causing a fire that killed 45 people, strengthening global calls for a permanent ceasefire.
Israel also continued to undergo significant diplomatic defeats as three European countries – Norway, Spain, and Ireland – officially recognized Palestinian statehood. The Slovenian government also voted for such a recognition, but parliamentary approval is yet needed.
Pro-Israel pundits have warned that such steps only strengthen Hamas’s resolve not to make a deal with Israel.
In Washington, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patal said that the Biden administration was working to “secure a ceasefire, a ceasefire that is coupled with the release of hostages, a ceasefire that can be coupled with an additional influx of humanitarian aid, one that ensures Palestinians in Gaza are protected… a ceasefire that will help identify a vision for the post-conflict of Gaza.”
In that day after, he said, Gaza would “no longer be a springboard of terrorism” and there would be a two-state solution where “Palestinians and Israelis can live with equal measures of security and prosperity.”