An Israeli military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal for a weekslong truce between Israel and Hamas is reached, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, but claimed that total victory in Gaza is “weeks away” once the incursion begins.
Speaking to Margaret Brennan on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” Netanyahu confirmed that a deal is in the works but did not provide details. Israeli media reported that mediators were making progress on an agreement for a temporary ceasefire and the release of dozens of hostages held captive in Gaza as well as Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel. Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said the war cabinet tacitly approved it.
Talks resumed on Sunday in Qatar at the specialist level, Egypt’s state-run Al Qahera TV reported, citing an Egyptian official as saying further discussions would follow in Cairo with the aim of achieving the temporary ceasefire and release.
Multiple reports have indicated that the outline includes the release in the first phase of some 40 hostages held in Gaza, including women, children, female soldiers and elderly and ill abductees, amid a pause in fighting of some six weeks.
It also includes the release by Israel of hundreds of Palestinian terror convicts, and a “redeployment” of Israeli troops within Gaza — but not a complete withdrawal as Hamas had previously demanded. The outline would also reportedly see Israel enable the return of Palestinian women and children to northern Gaza, from where hundreds of thousands evacuated during the fighting, and which Israel has kept cut off from the rest of the enclave.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, responded to Netanyahu’s comments, saying that they cast doubt over Israel’s willingness to secure a hostage deal.
Meanwhile, Israel is developing plans for expanding its offensive against the Hamas terror group to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half the territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge. Humanitarian groups warn of a catastrophe, with Rafah the main entry point for aid, and the US and other allies have said Israel must avoid harming civilians. Israel’s political and military leaders have said the operation will not begin until the safety of non-combatants has been ensured.
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