Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a cease-fire and hostage release deal was “not close,” as both sides appear to have broken further apart on major parts of the negotiations, including Israel’s military presence in Gaza.
Netanyahu told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that Hamas is not negotiating in good faith, accusing them of trying to cement control over Gaza by booting Israel out through the negotiations.
“Hamas is not there with a deal. There’s not a deal in the making,” he said in the interview. “They want to reconstitute their terror kingdom. And it’s — unfortunately it’s not close.”
“But we’ll do everything we can to get them to the point where they do make a deal,” he added.
Hamas has also thrown cold water on the negotiations, which the Biden administration signaled were close to the finish line just a few weeks ago.
“We do not need new proposals, what is needed now is to pressure Netanyahu and his government and obligate them to what was agreed upon,” a statement, shared by the militant group on Telegram this week, reads. “We warn against falling into Netanyahu’s trap and his tricks, as he is using negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people.”
Israel and Hamas are at odds over the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of land that borders Egypt and which Israeli forces captured in May. Netanyahu wants to retain control over the area and Hamas wants his forces out.
The latest iteration of a cease-fire and hostage release deal includes three phases, the first of which would see the release of the most vulnerable of the 97 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza in return for an Israeli troop withdrawal from densely populated areas of the territory and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
A senior Biden administration official told reporters Wednesday that the details on the Philadelphi corridor, along with the disputes over what constitutes a densely populated area, are an “extensive part” of ongoing negotiations.
Israel has put forward a proposal with a “significant reduction” of troops roughly two weeks ago, the official said, which includes a map of where Israeli forces would be positioned.
“Our position is we need a deal. And so until you have a deal, you don’t have a deal,” the official said. “If Israel has to make some additional adjustments, on whatever issue to try and get a deal, and it’s within reason, doesn’t jeopardize Israel’s security, they should get a deal.”
“Same thing on the Hamas side,” they added. “There’s things Hamas needs to do to deliver a deal here.”
Israel and Hamas are also discussing the Israeli troop presence in the Netzarim corridor, which splits the Gaza Strip into a northern and southern half. The other sticking point in the talks relates to the details of a prisoner and hostage exchange, including who will be released and how many people.
The U.S. official said an August proposal was presented “bridging the gaps in the prisoner exchange.”
The proposal “went pretty far in that direction, and finally opened up the actual discussion of names and how that would go, including a list of hostages, which is fundamental here,” the official said. “We need agreement on who the hostages are and who’s coming out.”
Netanyahu is under immense pressure at home to get a deal done, with tens of thousands of protesters demonstrating over the weekend after the death of six hostages in Gaza. Hamas reportedly executed them in Gaza, including American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
The Israeli prime minister has been accused of continuing the war for his own political survival to avoid questions about the deadly Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 that started the war, which killed more than 1,100 people and saw roughly 250 taken captive by the militant group.
But Netanyahu told Fox he was “not interested in my political future, I’m interested in my country’s future.”
“This war would be over yesterday if Hamas laid down its arms, released all the hostages. It would be over in two seconds. But Hamas is refusing to do that,” he said, adding that “Israel agreed to a deal.”
“Hamas has refused. It’s still refusing to budge,” the prime minister continued. “And the pressure should be put on Hamas, not on Israel.”
Netanyahu said his “heart was shattered” by the death of the six hostages, but that he refused to “make concessions after these murders,” arguing it was vital for Israel to security to maintain the Philadelphi corridor.
Holding the corridor “prevents them from rearming,” he said of Hamas.
“It prevents Gaza from becoming this Iranian terror enclave again, which can threaten our existence,” the Israeli leader added.