A ceasefire and hostage deal had not been reached yet because Hamas “does not want there to be a deal,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the weekly government meeting on Sunday.
During the meeting, the ministers attending were given a very limited briefing on the hostage deal talks.“The situation is less optimistic,” ministers told The Jerusalem Post.
The message conveyed to ministers was that “the negotiations for the hostage deal were stuck,” with Hamas “constantly trying to change direction in the talks.”
A meeting ahead of Netanyahu's surgery
The ministers were also told that Hamas returned to demanding an end to the war as conditional for any deal.The government meeting took place prior to Netanyahu’s prostate removal surgery.
Netanyahu released a video statement as he walked out of the government meeting, stating he was leaving the meeting to go to the hospital and that he wanted to thank all those who sent him wishes for a speedy recovery.
In the clip, he was asked about the book he held in his hand and explained that it was the biography of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, a military leader in Britain, written by Winston Churchill.
He then wished everyone watching a Happy Hanukkah.