Netanyahu says Israel considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas
Mr Netanyahu's statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and US delegations as a pressure tactic.
The teams left Qatar on Thursday as President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas' latest response to proposals for a deal showed a 'lack of desire' to reach a truce.
Mr Witkoff said the US will look at 'alternative options', without elaborating.
In a statement released by his office, Mr Netanyahu echoed him, saying, 'Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal'.
'Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,' he said.
He did not elaborate. Israel's government did not say whether negotiations would resume next week.
A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the Trump administration as humanitarian conditions worsen in Gaza.
Israel has come under mounting pressure as hunger among Gaza's more than two million people has worsened and deaths related to malnutrition have accelerated.
In recent days more then two dozen western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticising Israel's blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out.
The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food.
Yazan Abu Ful, a two-year-old malnourished child, sits at his family home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Wednesday (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise Palestine as a state, saying: 'The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.'
Hamas official Bassem Naim said on Friday that he was told the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.
The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs.
Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops after any ceasefire takes place.
The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.
Maysara Adwan, left, mourns as she holds the body of her 11-year-old son, Qais, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza that has been used as a shelter (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war.
Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms.
The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons.
Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.
Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive.
Meanwhile Israeli strikes continued across Gaza.
At least 22 people were killed since Thursday night, according to hospital records at Nasser Hospital where the bodies arrived.
Some were killed in strikes, others and others were killed while seeking aid, said the hospital.
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The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Israeli tactics leave dangerous security vacuum in Gaza which Hamas continues to exploit
Hana Salah Palestinian journalist ISRAEL'S CONTINUING ASSAULTS on Gaza cause daily devastations for the people of Palestine. The starvation of children has become the most visible and derided of those consequences. But last month's killing of 18 Palestinian humanitarian workers, allegedly by Hamas affiliates, also points to a less discussed impact: the dangers of escalating internal lawlessness due to Israel's systematic dismantling of the usual governance mechanisms in Gaza. The Independent Commission for Human Rights says Israeli strikes have systematically dismantled these mechanisms – by targeting police stations, courthouses and prisons. That has left a dangerous security vacuum. Hamas, and other gangs, continue to exploit the gap. On 11 June, at least 18 people working for the US-Israel backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were killed when the bus they were travelling in was ambushed by gunmen. The incident received little media or public attention in June. What exactly happened on 11 June? According to family interviews and statements, the attackers stopped the bus and accused the workers of collaborating with Israel before unleashing a brutal assault that initially left 11 people dead. About another 17 were injured. Bereaved families now say that at least seven of those 17 were later killed later inside Nasser Hospital, where they had initially been taken for treatment, bringing the death toll to 18. No group has officially claimed responsibility but families of the victims say the attackers were members of the armed Sahem unit, which is affiliated with Hamas. The GHF claimed in a public statement that Hamas gunmen were behind the killings and called for an independent investigation. Hamas, which governs Gaza but has seen its authority fray during the war, has not commented publicly on the incident. However, survivors of the attack say they were targeted because the Sahem unit believed they were members of the Israel-backed Abu Shabab gang. Why were they targeting GHF workers? The GHF, which has controversially, ineffectively and dangerously become the sole provider of food aid in parts of Gaza after Israeli authorities restricted UN agency operations, has faced scrutiny from multiple sides. Some local groups accuse it of serving US interests and consider its operations as 'death traps' because of a lack of proper security protocols. The Palestinian workers were erroneously accused by the Hamas unit of being Abu Shabab gang members because of GHF's links to Israel. 'They were beaten, shot, humiliated' 'What happened was not a mistake. It was a crime,' says local journalist Alaa Al-Helou about the bus ambush. 'They were beaten, shot, humiliated — and then denied medical help in the hospital. And all because of a false accusation.' According to the families' statement, armed men stopped the GHF vehicle before beating the driver and passengers with sticks and rifle butts. They then shot some of them in the legs. Survivors say they were stripped of their belongings and dragged onto the street, where bystanders, incited by the attackers, joined in the assault. 'They forced us off the bus and made us lie on the ground. Then they began beating and shooting us, one by one,' said Younis Abu Shaloof, 18, and a survivor of the attack. 'When the armed men left, people thought we were part of Abu Shabab gang and collaborating with Israel and started hitting us too. The ambulance took us to hospital in Khan Younis.' Yousef was lucky as his family moved him from Nasser hospital in Kahn Younis to another field hospital in Deir Al-Balah, so he survived the second attack by the armed men in the hospital which killed at least seven others injured in the same incident. 'They hit me in the knee, and I passed out,'he recalls. 'When I came to, I saw another man next to me, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head. 'I smeared some of his blood on my own head and rubbed sand over my face, hoping the gunmen would think I was already dead — so they wouldn't shoot me again and finish me off.' Contracting complications One source, who spoke to The Journal on condition of anonymity, said that the GHF had contracted a bus company for transportation and subcontracted Al-Khuzundar Company to supply the labourers. On 26 May 2025, the Al-Khozendar family — to which the head of the subcontractor company working with the GHF belongs — issued a public statement disowning Mohammad Mohsen Al-Khozendar for his alleged collaboration with a US firm involved in Israeli military projects. The statement, rooted in tribal and social norms in Gaza, condemned any logistical or engineering work that supports such initiatives as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause, and stressed that the company bearing the family name does not represent the family or its values. The transportation company, the source added, claimed it had been communicating with Hamas-affiliated internal security forces to coordinate the workers' movement in the designated humanitarian area. They also had an oral coordination with the Israeli army. Advertisement 'The Israeli army contacted the Palestinian coordinator (sub-contractor) through phone to allow or stop the movement but that doesn't guarantee the bus, or any coordinated movement is protected from strikes, shots, bombing,' the source added. Who knew about the bus movement at that hour? A member of another bereaved family said the bus had been waiting for coordination approval when the attack occurred. 'The bus was waiting for clearance, and the armed men struck nearly an hour after coordination calls began,' the source said. This could suggest that some security sources were already aware of its coordination request.' Youssef recalls the armed men asking them if they were with the Abu Shabab gang which is backed by the Israeli army. 'They asked us if we were working with Abu Shabab, but we denied,' Youssef said. 'I'm too afraid to leave my home now,' said the survivor Youssef. 'I will never work for the American organisation again. Better to die by an Israeli airstrike than be killed as a 'traitor' by our own people.' In the fragmented landscape of Gaza's ongoing war, the Abu Shabab militia has emerged as a controversial player, reportedly collaborating with Israeli forces while launching attacks on Hamas-linked units such as the Sahem Unit. The group is believed to be operating out of Rafah's eastern border and was formed during the current conflict. Its leader, Yasser Abu Shabab, 34, is now at the centre of fierce accusations from the Joint Operations Room of Palestinian Resistance Factions, which has charged him with treason and leading an illegal armed group. A Revolutionary Court has issued a 10-day deadline for his surrender, warning he will otherwise be tried in absentia. Security body seize bus Formally, no group has claimed responsibility. Hamas has not commented. The day after the incident, Abu Shabab denied the images of the killings showed members of its militia, according to EuroNews . But a month on from the attack, the Hamas Interior Ministry issued a statement banning all forms of collaboration or work with the GHF. The bus involved in the attack was seized by a security body in Gaza, according to sources. Witnesses said no one was allowed to approach the vehicle, and individuals who attempted to do so were reportedly beaten. There have been other killings of suspected Israel collaborators during the lawless chaos of the conflict. However, other innocent civilians have also been mistakenly targeted. On 26 September 2024, Islam Hejazi, Gaza Programme Director at the US-based charity Shifa' Palestine, was shot dead by armed men in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Gunmen in three vehicles opened fire on the car she was travelling in, firing around 90 bullets. Her family said government officials later told them it was a case of mistaken identity — her vehicle had been wrongly suspected of resembling one linked to a wanted man accused of collaboration. Hejazi, a mother of two, was described by Shifa' Palestine as a dedicated humanitarian 'of the highest integrity and professionalism'. The charity said it remained committed to serving Gaza in her memory. Dismantling of public order In a strongly worded statement, the Independent Commission for Human Rights condemned the Khan Younis attack as an extrajudicial killing and a serious breach of international law. It warned of a disturbing rise in armed groups acting outside any official framework, and called for an urgent, independent investigation to restore public trust and uphold the rule of law. A lawyer associated with a human rights organisation in Gaza talked to The Journal on condition of anonymity due to potential risk to his safety, and said his organisation and others are working to document cases of extrajudicial killings and vigilante violence, but stressed the extreme difficulty of collecting accurate data during an ongoing war. 'It is nearly impossible to provide precise numbers at this stage,' he told The Journal. 'The war has made documentation extremely difficult — especially during the period when Gaza was effectively divided between the north and south.' He added that many killings have not been officially investigated by the Public Prosecution or the Ministry of Health, leaving their motives unclear. 'It is often unknown whether these were revenge attacks, personal disputes, or related to allegations of collaboration with the occupation,' he said. 'There are certainly killings, but in many cases, the reasons remain undetermined — particularly under the current conditions of war.' Looting During the 11 June, the Hamas unit targeted workers which the group erroneously identified as Israel collaborators. Meanwhile, the United Nations last week said that 766 aid-seeking Palestinians have been killed in the vicinity of GHF sites – mostly by the IDF. UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told the AFP news agency that these almost 800 victims were killed by Israeli military actions. That death toll has since increased. The collapse of civil order in Gaza has also been highlighted by the UN Protection Cluster, which warned that humanitarian efforts are being severely disrupted. In a recent update, the group said aid delivery is hindered not only by Israeli restrictions and access barriers, but also by growing lawlessness within Gaza, fuelled in part by Israeli strikes on civilian police infrastructure. It noted that the breakdown in law enforcement has led to increased looting and attacks on humanitarian convoys. The closure of the Rafah crossing since May 2024 — aside from limited evacuations of medical cases — has further compounded the crisis. Israeli military operations and an ongoing siege, particularly in northern Gaza since October, have deepened insecurity and worsened conditions for civilians and aid workers alike. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
6 hours ago
- The Journal
Couple walk from Donegal to Leinster House to highlight devastation in Gaza
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The Irish Sun
9 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Hamas vows to never lay guns down unless demand is met as thugs share sick clip of hostage ‘forced to dig his own grave'
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