Boehler is visiting Israel this week amid ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Hamas captives in Gaza.
Joshua Marks, Amelie Botbol, JNS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday with Adam Boehler, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, according to his office.
Boehler is visiting Israel this week amid ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Hamas captives in Gaza. He also discreetly met with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
Trump said on Monday that he is working to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza, who number 100 according to the latest Israeli estimates. Thirty-six have been declared dead.
“We are trying to help very strongly in getting the hostages back,” Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his administration’s final White House Chanukah celebration, outgoing President Joe Biden also pledged to continue efforts to release the captives.
“I’ve gotten over 100 hostages out. I will not stop until I get every single one of them home,” he said on Monday to cheers from the hundreds in the audience.
During last year’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which lasted from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30, 105 captives—81 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals—were released.
Defense Minister Israel Katz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that “we are the closest to a hostage deal since the last one.”
He said during the session that Israeli troop deployments along the 8.7-mile Gaza-Egypt border buffer zone, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and the 22-square-mile Netzarim Corridor that splits the middle of the Strip “are no longer an obstacle” because Hamas “has shown flexibility on these matters.”
During the committee meeting, Katz expressed his confidence that the deal would receive overwhelming approval from both the government and the cabinet.
“I have instructed the security establishment to place the release of hostages at the forefront of our priorities in the ongoing conflict, Katz said.
“This is the policy I advocate for, and I am actively working to advance it. With Hamas demonstrating a newfound willingness to compromise, we are hopeful that practical steps can be taken soon. As I have said before, this is a moral obligation and the most important mission before us,” Katz continued.
A senior Palestinian official involved in the indirect negotiations told the BBC on Monday that talks were in a “decisive and final phase.”
An Israeli “working level” delegation is reportedly currently in the Qatari capital Doha to continue negotiations, with mediators working on establishing an inspection mechanism for Gazan civilians moving northward. Hamas had previously rejected this system.
Additionally, an Israeli government official said on Monday evening to Israel Hayom that there was “significant traction” gained on talks toward a hostage deal and a source familiar with the negotiations told the news outlet that talks to formulate a new ceasefire deal are expected to be completed by Chanukah, which this year begins on the evening of Dec. 25, with implementation to be spread over an extended period.
Israel Hayom also reported on progress made concerning the number of hostages to be released in the first stage, which would include adults over 50, the sick and individuals classified as “humanitarian cases” in exchange for a six-week ceasefire.
According to the Palestinian official, as part of the three-phase plan, civilians and female soldiers would be released in the first 45 days, with Israeli forces pulling out of city centers, the coastal road and the border with Egypt’s Sinai.
The official affirmed that there would be a mechanism for Gazans to return north.
A second stage would see the remaining hostages released and the troops withdrawn before the third stage ending the war.
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