American and Israeli negotiators are waiting for a response from Hamas to the latest proposal on the table for a hostage deal, US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters in Washington on Monday.
“Where we are now is that a proposal has been presented to Hamas and we’re waiting on Hamas’s response,” Kirby said.
“A response from Hamas to any particular proposal one way or another can often take a matter of days just because of the nature of communications with them and with [Hamas Gaza leader Yahya] Sinwar,” Kirby stated.
He spoke as Cairo hosted indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, which included CIA Director William Burns, as well as delegations from the two mediating countries Egypt and Qatar.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is scheduled to meet with families of the hostages late Monday, Kirby added.
The Cairo talks were serious, he stressed, and could hopefully lead to a six-week pause in the war.
“We’re taking this very, very seriously. And we what we want to do is come to closure on a hostage deal as soon as possible because again, with that hostage deal comes a ceasefire of hopefully around six weeks,” Kirby stated.
Sources told the Egyptian state-run Al-Qahera News said that delegations left Cairo and consultations were expected to continue within 48 hours. The security cabinet is expected to meet on Tuesday night to discuss the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a short Hebrew language video in which he said, “I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo.
“We are working all the time to achieve our goals, primarily the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,” he stated.
In an unusual statement, the Prime Minister’s Office also discussed the movements of Brig.-Gen. (Res) Gal Hirsch, explaining that he had met with the special US presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens.
They discussed US efforts to return the hostages, as well as American assistance toward achieving this goal, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz visited Italy on Monday with a delegation of relatives of some of the hostages. Those relatives were able to have an audience with Pope Francis.
According to a report in London-based Al Araby Al Jadid, the deal, proposed by the US, would include the return of 6,000 Palestinians to the northern part of Gaza on a daily basis during a six-week period as well as the release of 40 of the hostages.
Hamas not flexible on main demands
Hamas has insisted that any deal must include a permanent ceasefire, but according to Al Araby, the pause to the war at this phase would not be permanent.
In a conversation with newly recruited soldiers to the armored and engineering corps, Defense Minister Yoav Galant [Likud] said that the IDF had proved itself in the battle against Hamas and could now afford to be flexible to make a deal for the return of the hostages.
“We have the highest obligation to return our hostages home. And the operational conditions that the IDF created through relentless pressure on Hamas and the position of strength from which we come into this campaign, allow us flexibility, freedom of action,” Gallant stated.
He stressed that Israel would have to make difficult decisions and that is “ready to pay a price to ensure that those who were kidnapped are returned,” he stated, adding that after that the IDF would resume its battle with Hamas.
Despite the cautious optimism in Israel, a Hamas official said Monday that no progress was made at the Cairo talks.
“There is no change in the position of the occupation [Israel] and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks,” said the Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
“There is no progress yet,” he said.
Two Egyptian security sources and state-run Al-Qahera News said on Monday some progress had been made in the Cairo talks.
The security sources said both sides had made concessions that could help pave the way for a deal for a truce, which – as proposed during previous talks – would be staggered over three stages, with the release of any of the remaining 133 hostages and a long-term ceasefire addressed in the second stage.
The concessions relate to the freeing of hostages and Hamas’s demand for the return of displaced residents to northern Gaza, they said. Mediators suggested the return could be monitored by an Arab force in the presence of Israeli security deployments that would later be pulled back, they added.
A Palestinian official close to the mediation efforts told Reuters that deadlock continued over Israel’s refusal to end the war, withdraw its forces from Gaza, allow all civilians to return to their homes, and lift restrictions on the entry of goods that would be used to reconstruct the enclave.
These steps took precedence over Israel’s prime demand for a release of hostages, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. It’s also expected that as part of the deal, Israel would release Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists held in its jails.
“Regarding the exchange of prisoners, Hamas was and is willing to be more flexible, but there is no flexibility over our... main demands,” the official told Reuters.
Asked about the talks by reporters on Monday, Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman would not go into detail, saying only: “The most important thing is that the right people are in the right place at the right time to discuss a way in which the 133 Israeli hostages can be released.”
In Washington, opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) discussed the hostages in meetings held with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Sullivan.
“It is a difficult deal. This is a deal we might not like, but it’s doable and therefore needs to be made,” Lapid said. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) has already threatened to bolt the government over the deal.
Lapid said that his party would support the agreement from the opposition.
“There are enough good people in the Israeli government,” Lapid told reporters outside the State Department. If need be, he added, “the Israeli opposition will give a security net to the government in order to do the hostage deal because we need to bring them back home.”
Reuters contributed to this report.