Netanyahu Indicates Israel Ready to Restart Ceasefire Talks with Hamas

Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will return to the table for cease-fire talks with Hamas. Friday’s announcement marks yet another attempt to reach a deal with the militant group that would pause Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Several rounds of negotiations have faltered.

Netanyahu says he has spoken with Israel’s lead negotiators and authorized Israeli delegations to join talks in Qatar and Egypt over the coming days.

With the war now grinding through a sixth month, the United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to negotiate another cease-fire and hostage release. But those efforts appear to have stalled.

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Netanyahu has called the demands delusional and vowed to resume Israel’s offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until the militant group is destroyed.

Hamas is believed to be holding roughly 100 hostages, as well as the remains of about 30 people killed in the group’s Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war, or who died in captivity.