Netanyahu hints at hostage deal
Hundreds of people have been held by Hamas for weeks. After some of them were released in the meantime, little has been happening for days. Israel's Prime Minister has now commented on the current situation.
In an interview with the US television station NBC, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the possibility of an agreement on the release of hostages abducted by Hamas. When asked by a journalist about a possible agreement on the release of women, children and the elderly, Netanyahu said: "It could be." He added: "The less I say about this issue, the more I increase the chances of this becoming a reality."
Netanyahu said that negotiations on the possible release of hostages were progressing because of the military pressure on the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Negotiations had made no progress at all until the start of the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, Netanyahu said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "But the moment we started the ground offensive, things began to change".
On October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters had crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and committed atrocities against civilians in attacks on several towns and a music festival. According to Israeli reports, around 1,200 people were killed in the worst attack in the country's history and around 240 people were taken hostage and abducted to the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli media reports, at least 30 of the hostages are minors, including some young children.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel declared war on the Palestinian organization and has been attacking Islamist targets in the Gaza Strip ever since. According to independently unverifiable information from the Hamas health authority in the Gaza Strip, more than 11,000 people have been killed in the sealed-off coastal strip since the beginning of the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the potential for an agreement to release hostages captured by Hamas, following escalating tensions and acts of terrorism. Despite ongoing Israeli-Hamas war and numerous casualties, Netanyahu pointed out that the ground offensive in Gaza accelerated negotiations for a hostage release.
Source: www.ntv.de
