Israel to restart hostage release negotiations with Hamas after pressure from Trump envoy
Israel has promised to restart hostage release negotiations with Hamas this week after pressure from Donald Trump's envoy.
Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister, confirmed to a press conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday that phase two talks would resume imminently following a delay of roughly a fortnight.
It came after an intervention by Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, on Monday, which marked 500 days since Oct 7, in which he said that negotiations for the next stage of the deal were 'absolutely going to begin'.
This has prompted suggestions in Israel that Benjamin Netanyahu's hand was effectively forced by the US administration.
The prime minister has faced repeated accusations that continuing the war is a higher priority for him than securing the release of the hostages.
Technically, discussions for the deal's second phase should have begun two weeks ago, around the time of Mr Netanyahu's visit to the White House, during which Mr Trump announced his 'Middle East Riviera' vision, which would involve the displacement of Palestinian civilians.
Hamas threatened to stop releasing hostages last week, before relenting and handing over three, as planned, on Saturday.
In recent days, Mr Netanyahu has faced increasing criticism for his reported decision – not yet officially confirmed – to remove the head of Shin Bet, the internal security service, from Israel's team of hostage negotiators.
Critics said the sidelining of Ronen Bar, who had been intimately involved with the process, showed that Mr Netanyahu did not want the talks to succeed.
Adding to the political pressure were 'signs of life' from hostages still held captive, and public expressions of thanks to Mr Trump, rather than Mr Netanyahu, from those recently released.
'Thanks to you, we are home,' said Agam Berger, who was released on January 30, in a video that Mr Trump duly reposted on social media.
Iair Horn, who was released on Saturday, told a rally in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square on Monday night that the remaining hostages 'don't have any more time'.
Israel believes there are now six living hostages amongst the names of 33 agreed for phase one, which is set to expire the weekend after next.
As per the outline agreement, the next phase would see a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza strip, among other measures, in return for the release of all remaining hostages.
Israel is reportedly pushing for all its six living first phase hostages to be released en masse on Saturday.
On Tuesday Ynet, a Hebrew-language news channel, said a senior Hamas official had said there was a 'high chance' this could happen.
In an apparent sign of better relations, Israel has begun allowing the entry of mobile homes and heavy bulldozing equipment into Gaza.
'It will happen this week,' Mr Sa'ar told journalists, referring to the start of phase two negotiations.
'We will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organisation in Gaza.'
But he added that if the negotiations are constructive, Israel will remain engaged and may prolong the first phase of the ceasefire, which is meant to last six weeks.
'If we see there is a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement (then) we will make this time frame work longer.'
As well as ruling out a role for Hamas, Mr Sa'ar scorned the mooted involvement of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which runs the West Bank.
Referring to the organisation's reported decision not to stop payments for the family members of terrorists, so-called 'pay for slay', he accused the PA of being effectively as bad as Hamas, and of 'poisoning the minds' of Palestinian children against Israel.
His comments appear to contradict suggestions put forward by Arab countries for the future of Gaza.
They also highlight the difficulties inherent in the negotiations, with Israel appearing to offer Hamas little long-term incentive to release the remaining hostages.
One prominent Israeli commentator, writing in the newspaper Haaretz, said Mr Netanyahu had been 'blindsided' by Mr Witkoff's comments.
So far, 19 Israeli hostages have been returned in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Another 14 hostages, six of them believed to be alive, are slated for return in the first phase.
Four bodies of deceased hostages are expected to be handed over on Thursday.
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16 minutes ago
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The Democratic Party Slides Into Irrelevance
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Politico
17 minutes ago
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Another DOGE flip-flop
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Musk Radar THANKS FOR THAT: Musk posted his drug test results early this morning for his 221 million followers on X … because … why not? It comes weeks after the New York Times reported that the former DOGE chief used ketamine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and Adderall while campaigning alongside Trump. Musk has denied the story — going so far as to apparently take a urine test, which appears to have come back negative for more than a dozen drugs. 'lol,' Musk wrote. The Times' communications account said in an X post that the paper stands by its reporting. 'Nothing that he's said or presented since our article about his drug use during the presidential campaign was published contradicts what we uncovered,' the account wrote. COUGHING IN MEMPHIS: The NAACP and an environmental group today informed xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence company, that they intend to sue the organization over environmental and health concerns at its supercomputer facility, AP's ADRIAN SAINZ reports. Last month, POLITICO's E&E News' ARIEL WITTENBERG reported on the ground in Memphis that the facility is belching smog-forming pollution over a part of the city that is made up predominantly of Black residents. The area already leads the state in emergency department visits for asthma. WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT EXODUS AT DOJ: The Department of Justice is set to lose about 4,500 employees to DOGE's 'fork in the road' buyout program, Bloomberg Law's SUZANNE MONYAK and JUSTIN WISE report. The agency proposed eliminating 5,093 positions, and its workforce is expected to shrink more through voluntary early retirement. Additional reduction-in-force actions 'will also be implemented as needed,' the DOJ said earlier this week. AND AT INTERIOR: Nearly 11 percent of the workforce at the Interior Department — amounting to almost 7,500 employees — have taken the Trump administration's buyout offers or early retirement in the past five months, POLITICO's E&E News' JENNIFER YACHNIN reports. Responding to a FOIA request, the department said that it has shed more than 1,000 staffers each from the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Reclamation in recent months. What We're Reading The Tyrant Test (The Atlantic's Adam Serwer) MAGA's Plan to Remake an Iconic New York Landmark (POLITICO's Ian Ward) New FDA Chief Wants to Fast-Track Some Drugs, Use More AI (WSJ's Liz Essley Whyte) MAGA Is at War With Itself Over Iran (The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire and Isaac Stanley-Becker) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER Former President THEODORE ROOSEVELT became the first sitting president to fly in an airplane, making the maiden voyage with the pilot ARCH HOXSEY on Oct. 11, 1910, according to the National Air and Space Museum.
