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.
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.
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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19 minutes ago
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The Hill
21 minutes ago
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