Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to the US earlier this week as reports – and statements by President Donald Trump – indicated that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal may happen this week. Any option that isn’t a deal is inexcusable.
An Israeli delegation set out for Doha, Qatar, for negotiations on talks as well, but there were reports of possible plans for the Gaza Strip, including moving hundreds of thousands of civilians. The photos were taken, hands were shaken, and the reports started to change. But the excuses have run out.
On Tuesday at press time, a senior political official said that efforts are ongoing and a deal could be reached within a few days. The differences between the stances of Israel and Hamas were said to be small, so negotiations remain in progress.
The official noted that, from Israel’s perspective, a key component of the deal must involve stripping Hamas of its authority to control the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Local gangs have cropped up in Gaza to try to wrestle the aid back from Hamas and get it to the starving population, per reports.
Sources close to the negotiations said later on Monday that the aid distribution issue is high up on the priority list of negotiations, as talks progress in Doha. About 75% of the issue has been settled, a source said. US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is due in the Qatari capital later this week to join the negotiations in person.
Netanyahu’s position is that “the end means Gaza without Hamas,” the political official emphasized.
Prioritizing hostages over Hamas
Two separate polls, taken about two months ago, show that over half of the Israeli public supports a deal that prioritizes the hostages over the government’s stated “complete victory” over Hamas.
The first, conducted by the Kantar Institute, had 56% support for a deal to free all the hostages in exchange for ending the war, with 33% opposed, and the remainder undecided.
The second, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, found that nearly half (49%) do not believe that the release of the remaining 50 hostages can be secured while toppling Hamas. Slightly less (46%) said they “think or are certain” that it can.
When this question was asked by the pollsters in September 2024 and again four months later in January 2025, the results were slightly different. The accumulated findings show that the “share of those who favor bringing home the hostages as the most important goal has risen steadily, while the share who prioritize toppling Hamas has fallen.”
Notably, these were taken before Israel’s strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites in June.
At present, the rumored talks are of a 60-day truce for a series of hostage releases.
The goal of “destroying Hamas” is broad, flexible, and can be changed based on security and political needs. The hostages, on the other hand, are stuck in a deteriorating state of hell.
Striking Iran as hard as we did, landing blows to Hezbollah that it has never experienced, crippling Hamas in Gaza – all this is not worth it if Israeli citizens can’t trust the government enough to be sure that if their family and friends were to be kidnapped by a terrorist group, it would bring them home alive. Fifty families are experiencing a particular kind of hell every second of every day – bringing their loved ones home cannot wait.
The damages that this social discord in trust would bring cannot be overstated. What is the point of striking Iran as we did if the social contract is hanging by a thread? What exactly is there to protect if not that? Not just land, but the trust of the people.
This starts with taking responsibility and being honest. If there is no deal, stop dragging your feet and say it like it is. Fifty hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza, and no regional win can overshadow that. If there is, do not leave Washington and Doha without it. Time – and excuses from all parties involved – has run out.