Prospects for hostage deal with Hamas improving, Netanyahu says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said conditions for a cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas terrorists are “becoming ripe,” suggesting the two sides are getting closer to agreeing to at least a temporary halt to their war in Gaza.

Netanyahu spoke while in Washington on his first foreign trip since the conflict began almost nine months ago.

The prospect of all remaining hostages being returned are improving “for the simple reason that we are putting very strong pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “We see a certain change, and I think that this change will increase.”

He reiterated the Israeli military will continue its attacks on the Iran-backed Islamist group, which is considered a terrorist organization in the U.S., Canada and the European Union. Those are, he said, demoralizing Hamas and moving it closer to accepting a deal.

This week, Israel ordered Palestinian civilians to leave parts of the city of Khan Younis due to a renewed assault on fighters there.

“The enemy’s spirit is starting to break,” Netanyahu said.

A cease-fire deal “will not take place all at once — there will be stages,” he said. “However, I believe that we can advance the deal and leave us in possession of the leverage to bring about the release of the others.”

Netanyahu planned his trip to the United States weeks before the ground abruptly started heaving under U.S. politics this summer.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Joe Biden on Thursday, three days later than originally planned because the Biden has been isolating with COVID-19. The day before, Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress with a speech in which he’ll try to shore up support for Israel’s cause.

He’s also due to meet Vice President Kamala Harris, though no date’s been confirmed. That will have added importance now that Biden is no longer running for re-election and Harris is the front-runner to be the nominee for the Democratic Party.

Harris, as Senate president, would normally sit behind foreign leaders, but she’ll be away Wednesday, on an Indianapolis trip scheduled before she became the leading Democratic presidential candidate over the weekend.

Netanyahu also requested a meeting with Donald Trump. The former president and Republican presidential nominee agreed to a Friday meeting with the Israeli leader. Trump announced it on Truth Social, using it to promote what he wrote was his “PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Agenda” abroad.

Israeli media has reported that government negotiators are meant to travel to Qatar, a key mediator, on Thursday to resume talks with Hamas.

The discussions center on a three-phase peace plan presented by Biden in late May, which the White House hopes will lead to a permanent end to the fighting. One sticking point has been Israel’s insistence that it can resume the war to destroy Hamas.

Hamas started the conflict when it attacked southern Israeli communities from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s subsequent air and ground offensive on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

There are about 120 hostages still in captivity after some were released during a week-long cease-fire that ended on Dec. 1. Of those remaining, at least 40 are thought to be dead.