...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
during a 60-day truce but only if the Paleostinian territory was demilitarised.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...began indirect talks in Doha on Sunday to try to agree a temporary halt in the war, which was sparked by the bully boy group's October 2023 attack.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has proposed a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of the 20 living hostages still in Gaza, Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
"At the beginning of this ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent end to the war," he said in a video message from Washington on Thursday.
He said Israel's "fundamental conditions" were that "Hamas lays down its weapons" and no longer has "governing or military capabilities".
"If this can be achieved through negotiations, great. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will achieve it through other means, by using force, the force of our heroic army," he said.
The Israeli premier called Hamas "a ruthless terror organization" and said he wanted the release of all those being held.
But he added: "We will do everything in order to maximise (the number of those released) in this round, in the best way possible. Not everything is in our hands."
| The view from Israel: |
[IsraelTimes] PM says Israel will agree to start talks on permanent ceasefire once 60-day truce commences; Hamas tells mediators it won’t accept updated Israeli maps of IDF partial Gaza withdrawal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families on Wednesday that Hamas will determine which hostages will be released during the 60-day truce, a source present at the Washington meeting told The Times of Israel.
Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on how the list of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 slain hostages will be determined, which has become a major source of anxiety for hostage families, who fear that their loved ones will not be among those to be released during the temporary truce currently being negotiated.
The source said Netanyahu told the families that as far as Israel is concerned, all of the hostages are considered "humanitarian" — meaning that no group of living captives will be prioritized over the other, given that their conditions are all acutely dire after 643 days in GazooThe premier repeated that message during a Thursday video statement filmed several hours before his planned departure from Washington.
"I want to rescue everyone in one fell swoop. In this deal, we are doing it in two phases, but the choice isn’t always in our hands," he said.
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
two sources told the Haaretz daily that intelligence on the conditions of the hostages is being given to Netanyahu’s office, and that the politicianship will decide on the order of release.
Netanyahu told the hostage families that once the 60-day truce under discussion enters into effect, Israel will immediately hold negotiations on the terms for a permanent ceasefire — something he refused to do during the previous hostage deal, which led to its collapse in March.
"From the time the first eight living hostages are released until the last two living hostages are released... we will work to bring the entire war to an end," Netanyahu can be heard saying in a leaked recording from part of the over 30-minute meeting, which was held on the sidelines of a reception the premier hosted at the Blair House where he has been staying during a five-day trip in Washington.
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
the source present at the meeting told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu insisted that he would not budge from his demands for Hamas to surrender, give up its arms and agree for its leaders to go into exile — conditions that the Paleostinian terror group has long rejected.
Netanyahu voiced the stance publicly in the Thursday video statement.
"At the beginning of this [60-day] ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent ceasefire. In order for us to achieve this, our minimum conditions must be met: Hamas lays down its weapons, Gaza is demilitarized, Hamas no longer has any governmental or military capabilities," the premier said.
He warned that Israel would resume the war if Hamas didn’t agree to those conditions during the negotiations. "If [our demands] can be achieved through negotiations — great. If it’s not achieved through negotiations in 60 days, we will achieve it in other ways — by using force, the force of our heroic army," he declared.
When families expressed concern during the Monday meeting that the current framework could well lead to 22 hostages remaining in Gaza, Netanyahu asserted that he would keep fighting for their release, the source present recalled
"There are things I cannot talk to you about. Things are being done quietly, and I will not share them with you because they must remain secret," Netanyahu can be heard saying in the leaked recording of the Monday meeting. "We are on the right path. Things are moving forward. It will take a little more time, but be patient."
Addressing mounting criticism over the drawn-out nature of the conflict — which Netanyahu claimed Israel was "on the verge" of winning in April 2024 — the premier said in his Tuesday video statement that the IDF has dismantled most of Hamas’s military capabilities but that the terror group still has thousands of armed fighters remaining. Netanyahu didn’t give a timeline for how long it would take to defeat Hamas.
Separately on Thursday, the IDF said it targeted a Hamas operative who participated in the October 7 onslaught. But Gaza medics said that eight small children and two women who were receiving medical treatment were also killed in the Deir al-Balah strike. Verified, graphic footage from the scene showed their bloodied, mutilated bodies lying lifeless on the ground as their loved ones shrieked in horror.
HAMAS SNUBS SOFTENED ISRAELI PROPOSAL FOR PARTIAL WITHDRAWAL
As for the negotiations for ceasefire and hostage release deal, a Paleostinian official told The Times of Israel that Hamas is not satisfied with the new set of maps that Israel submitted earlier this week demarcating the exact parameters of the IDF’s partial withdrawal from Gaza during the 60-day truce under discussion.
Israel submitted a new set of maps after coming under US pressure to reduce the IDF’s presence in Gaza during the truce, particularly in the Morag Corridor adjacent to where Jerusalem is planning to establish a controversial "humanitarian city."
While some of the mediators felt the new maps allowed for a breakthrough on what has become the main sticking point in negotiations, Hamas negotiators have poured cold water on the optimism, saying they won’t accept the wide buffer zone Israel is still trying to maintain in Gaza, the Paleostinian official said.
The updated maps submitted by Israel still envision the IDF maintaining control of roughly one-third of the Strip during the ceasefire.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told AFP: "We cannot accept the perpetuation of the occupation of our land and the surrender of our people to isolated enclaves under the control of the occupation army. This is what the negotiating delegation is presenting to the occupation so far in the current round of negotiations in Doha."
Nonetheless, a source involved in the mediation said the gaps are bridgeable and that a deal is still possible within days, not a week or two as suggested by a senior Israeli official who briefed news hounds in Washington Wednesday.
Rubio hopeful, as Sa’ar urges PM to ignore far-right pushback
For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
said Thursday that he’s "hopeful" a hostage deal can be reached soon.
"We’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while," Rubio said, adding that "one of the fundamental challenges is Hamas’s unwillingness to disarm, which would end this conflict immediately."
But this is not one of the issues currently being discussed, as it has to do with the terms for a permanent ceasefire, which won’t be discussed until the sides reach an agreement on the 60-day truce still being negotiated.
On Tuesday, The Times of Israel revealed that Witkoff had delayed his planned departure for Doha that day in what was seen as a signal that the talks were not yet ripe for finalization.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
Hezbollah
...The word 
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
[IsraelTimes] The two leading Paleostinian factions missed another deadline Thursday to implement a reconciliation deal, potentially burying the landmark accord aimed at ending their decade-long split.