Negotiations over the continued release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled, sources familiar with details of the talks told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Nothing is currently moving on this front,” they said.
Officials estimated that if no agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, Israel would return to fighting in Gaza in about a week and a half.
“Hamas is currently rejecting [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress,” one official said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Witkoff’s plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the continued deal. The rest of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.
However, some claim that the terrorist organization has not rejected the proposal. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal.”
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Another source said that there was no expectation for Witkoff to visit the region at the moment, adding, “He will only come to finalize a deal. And since there is no real progress right now, it is unclear when or if he will arrive.”
Without an agreement on the release of additional hostages in the coming days, sources say Israel is preparing to escalate its actions against Hamas. After the decision on Sunday to stop humanitarian aid, Israel is preparing to cut off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as well as resume fighting as early as next week.
Officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues.
“The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” a source said. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israel responded to the mediators’ request to allow a few more days of negotiations.
“If Hamas does not release the hostages soon, the gates of Gaza will be locked, and the gates of hell will be opened – we will return to fighting, and they will face the IDF with forces and methods they have never encountered before,” Katz said.
Hamas said on Monday that Israel was trying to push things back to square one by asking to extend the first phase of their Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“The occupation is pushing to return things to square one and overturn the agreement through the alternatives it is proposing,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said.