Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to close a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas terrorists during his visit to Washington, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told JNS on Monday.
“It’s in the open, he doesn’t accept my position, he wants a deal,” Ben-Gvir said during a faction meeting of his Otzma Yehudit Party at the Knesset on Monday afternoon, adding, “I think that’s a big mistake.
“We have a disagreement on this subject. We agree on many things—we agreed about [the targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah, we agreed about Iran, we agreed on many things. On this subject, he does not agree with me,” the Cabinet minister told JNS.
Netanyahu landed at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Monday, ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump.
The U.S. is pressuring Qatar to “deliver” on efforts to finalize a deal for the release of the hostages, according to Israel Hayom. A source familiar with the matter told the outlet that from the White House’s perspective, with Israel having responded positively to the latest ceasefire proposal, it is now Qatar’s responsibility to ensure the terrorist group agrees as well.
Israel’s negotiators in Doha updated Netanyahu that the atmosphere of the talks was positive, and a member of the prime minister’s delegation rejected reports that the negotiations had stalled and said there was a good chance of reaching an agreement during Netanyahu’s U.S. visit.
“I believe we’re close to a deal on Gaza,” said Trump last week. “I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the coming week. We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out.”
