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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.