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Netanyahu Calls for Pressure on ‘Obstinate’ Hamas for Hostage Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem on June 5, 2024. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday reiterated his call for the international community to push the Hamas terrorist group to agree to US President Joe Biden’s framework proposal for a hostages-for-ceasefire-and-terrorists deal.
“We are engaged in negotiations for the release of our hostages. This is a national mission of the highest order. We are holding very complex negotiations in which the other side is a murderous terrorist organization that is unbridled and obstinate,” said Netanyahu at the beginning on the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
“However, I would like to emphasize: 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.
“Therefore, alongside the major efforts we are making to return our hostages, we stand on the principles that we have determined, which are vital for the security of Israel,” continued the premier.
“I reiterate: These principles are in keeping with the May 27 framework, which has received American support. … Up until now, Hamas has been completely obstinate. It did not even send a representative to the talks in Doha [on Thursday and Friday]. Therefore, the pressure needs to be directed at Hamas and [its top leader Yahya] Sinwar, not the government of Israel,” added Netanyahu.
Israeli negotiators on Saturday expressed “cautious optimism” regarding the talks that took place over the previous two days in Qatar to secure the release of 115 captives being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The team expressed to the prime minister cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress on the deal, in accordance with the updated American proposal (based on the May 27 framework), including components acceptable to Israel,” according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The statement was referring to a “bridging proposal” submitted by American mediators last week meant to close the gaps between the sides, based on the outline presented by Biden in a May speech that was previously accepted by Jerusalem.
There is a consensus among the mediating countries—the United States, Egypt and Qatar—that the diplomacy is “in the endgame,” a senior American official told reporters on Friday from Doha.
The official called the latest negotiation session “the most constructive in 48 hours we’ve had in many months,” echoing a joint statement that the three countries released earlier in the day.
The senior US official noted on Friday that “there’s still more work to do,” adding, “This is a very difficult, complex deal. It is wrenching because this is about getting hostages out of Gaza. There are elements of the deal that are uncomfortable. Just like any deal like this, it is far from perfect.”
Another summit is reportedly scheduled for Cairo on Thursday, with US officials saying the goal is to finalize a deal by the end of the week.
The post Netanyahu Calls for Pressure on ‘Obstinate’ Hamas for Hostage Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.