Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal securing the release of their loved ones could be close, his office said on Tuesday (23).
“Conditions are ripening,” Netanyahu told families on Monday (22) in Washington, where he was expected to meet with US President Joe Biden later this week after delivering a speech to Congress.
Efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, outlined by Biden in May and brokered by Egypt and Qatar, have gained momentum in the past month. On Friday (19), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said negotiators were “moving toward the goal line”.
Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli citizen Itai Chen, a soldier whose body is being held in Gaza, was one of the family members who met with Netanyahu.
“He said conditions were ripening, but I’m taking that with a pinch of salt,” Chen told Israeli Army Radio.
Chen said he expected Biden, who withdrew his bid for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate in November’s election, to apply more pressure on Netanyahu to secure the deal.
The Islamic militant group Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli records. Hamas and other militants still hold 120 hostages, about a third of whom have been declared dead, according to Israeli authorities.
The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s retaliatory offensive has since reached more than 39,000, according to health authorities in Gaza, the Hamas-ruled enclave.
More than 105 hostages were released from Gaza in a week-long truce in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Source: CNN Brasil
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