Netanyahu: Israel and US are ‘considering alternative options to bring hostages home’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel and the US are weighing ways to secure the release of hostages in Gaza that do not depend on a negotiated agreement with Hamas. “Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff got it right,” Netanyahu says in a statement. “Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal. Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.” Netanyahu does not elaborate on what such “alternative options” could entail. Talks hit a major roadblock yesterday after Hamas submitted its response to the latest ceasefire proposal and Israel withdrew its hostage team. But Jerusalem is still interested in a deal, and public statements are understood by many observers to be part of the pressure campaign to push Hamas to agree to a deal. Last night, Witkoff announced that Washington was calling back its negotiators from hostage talks in Doha and will pursue “alternative options” after the latest response from Hamas “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Trump: Hamas didn’t want deal, they wanna die
United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that Hamas did not “really” want to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel. “I think they wanna die, and it’s very bad,” he added, stressing they “know what happens after you get the final hostages.” The comments come after Israel and the US both pulled their delegations from talks in Doha after Hamas demanded the release of 200 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons and 2,000 Palestinians detained in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, in exchange for 10 living Israeli hostages, despite Israel expressing readiness to free 125 Palestinians from prisons and 1,200 people detained in Gaza. After the failed negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated his country will consider “alternative options” to retrieve the Israeli hostages.