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Netanyahu Hints at New Hamas Talks After Hostage Deaths
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to confirm on Saturday that new Qatar-mediated negotiations were underway to recover hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, after a source said Israel’s lead negotiator met Qatar’s prime minister.
Netanyahu sidestepped a question at a news conference about a meeting on Friday in Europe between his lead negotiator, Mossad head David Barnea, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. However, he confirmed he had given instructions to the negotiating team.
“We have serious criticisms of Qatar, about which I suppose you will hear in due course, but right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said, alluding to the gas-rich Gulf state’s ties to Hamas and Israel’s arch-foe Iran.
News of a new round of negotiations, first reported by Axios, came after Israel’s military disclosed that troops had accidentally killed three hostages who approached them with a white flag after having escaped their captors in Gaza on Friday.
Netanyahu said he would not divulge details of the talks.
“There is one mistake that we can make, which is to relay our calculations to Hamas, to the world,” he said. “We shall not be getting into the details of the negotiations.”
The Gaza war, triggered by a shock Hamas killing and kidnapping spree in south Israel on Oct. 7, has shaken regional and world powers as the Palestinian civilian toll spirals.
While pledging to destroy Hamas, Israel has also sought to recover hostages held by the Iranian-backed Islamist group.
Netanyahu vowed to maintain intense military pressure on Hamas in Gaza.
“The instruction I am giving the negotiating team is predicated on this pressure, without which we have nothing,” he said.
Mossad chief Barnea met Al Thani in Europe on Friday, a key mediator in the conflict in Gaza, a source told Reuters, while sources from Egypt suggested Israel appeared to be more open to a new deal with Hamas.
‘GET THE HOSTAGES BACK ALIVE’
Qatar and Egypt were mediators between Israel and Hamas in a deal that led to a week long truce at the end of November during which Hamas released more than 100 women, children and foreigners it was holding in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and teenagers freed from Israeli jails.
Axios said the Friday meeting was the first between Barnea and Al Thani since the November truce. The source who spoke to Reuters said Barnea returned to Israel early on Saturday to brief Netanyahu.
Two Egyptian security sources said Israeli officials appeared more willing, in calls with mediators, to strike a fresh deal for a Gaza ceasefire and release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the recovery of hostages.
The Egyptian sources said Israeli officials appeared to have changed their mind on some points that they had previously refused, but did not go into further detail.
There was no immediate response from Netanyahu government spokespeople to the Egyptian assessment.
Israel believes that another 20 or more of the 130 hostages still held in Gaza are dead. Families of the hostages held a rally on Saturday, demanding that Israel consider releasing senior Palestinian terrorists from jail in any new swap deal.
“The Israeli government needs to be active. They need to put an offer on the table, including prisoners with blood on their hands, and put the best offer on the table to get the hostages back alive,” said Ruby Chen, father of 19-year-old hostage Itay.
“We don’t want them back in bags.”
Hamas exiled leader Osama Hamdan said it would only release soldiers held captive in Gaza “until the entire aggression is stopped.” He said that would have to happen through a negotiated deal “according to the conditions set by the the resistance.”
In an apparent effort to sway Israeli public opinion, Hamas also released a video showing slain hostages and ending with the Hebrew warning: “Time is running out.”
The post Netanyahu Hints at New Hamas Talks After Hostage Deaths first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.