Palestinian Territory

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday authorities are engaged in "very complex" negotiations to release hostages held in the Gaza Strip, his office said.

“Israel is prepared for any threat – both defensively and offensively,” Netanyahu said at the start of a government meeting.

Israel has been bracing for a reaction from Iran and Hezbollah in response to the recent assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut.

Netanyahu described the negotiations as "extremely complex."

“We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give. There are things we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on. We know how to distinguish between the two very well,” he said.

“Alongside the major efforts we are making to return our hostages, we stand on the principles (of the May 27 plan) that we have determined, which are vital for the security of Israel,” he emphasized.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, which killed some 1,200 people and around 250 were taken as hostages.

Besides killing more than 40,000 Palestinians since then, the Israeli military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have demanded that Israel adhere to previously agreed-upon terms based on a proposal backed by US President Joe Biden and establish mechanisms for its implementation, rather than continuing negotiations while attacks continue.

The May 27 principles, which Netanyahu referred to, involved a proposal to the mediators—Egypt, Qatar, and the US—to control the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

For months, the mediators have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The latest round of talks ended in Doha on Friday without a breakthrough, but a fresh proposal built “on areas of agreement” and bridged remaining gaps in a manner that allowed for “a swift implementation of the deal.”

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul