The National Times - Israel shifts tone in push for Hamas peace deal in Gaza

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, indirect talks stretched into a fourth day in Qatar, with reported complaints of Israeli intransigence on aid distribution to starving civilians.

Army chief Eyal Zamir said in a televised address that military action had prepared the ground for a deal that would bring home the Israeli hostages seized by militant group Hamas.

"We have achieved many significant results, we have caused great damage to the governance and military capabilities of Hamas," he said.

"Thanks to the operational power that we have demonstrated, the conditions have been created to advance a deal to release the hostages."

Earlier Netanyahu, who after talks with Trump on Tuesday night was still uncompromising in his determination to crush Hamas, said he believed an agreement was on the horizon.

"I think we're getting closer to a deal," he told FOX Business Network's Mornings with Maria programme. "There's a good chance that we'll have it."

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also said he thought a temporary deal was "achievable" and could even herald talks for a more lasting peace, while President Isaac Herzog talked of "a historic opportunity" for change.

"We are in an era of tectonic shifts, where the global balance of power and the regional strategic landscape are being reshaped," Herzog said.

"We must not miss this moment," he added.

- 'Mostly listening' -

Netanyahu is insistent he wants to permanently neutralise the threat to Israel from Hamas, whose deadly October 7, 2023 attack on border communities near Gaza sparked the war.

But he is under increasing pressure domestically and politically to end the war, particularly as the death toll of soldiers killed by home-made bombs and ambushes in Gaza increases.

Hamas has vowed "Gaza will not surrender" and a Palestinian official close to the ceasefire talks indicated that Israel was still holding back a deal by refusing to allow free entry of aid in Gaza.

Another Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations in Doha said the Israeli delegation was "mostly listening rather than negotiating, which reflects Netanyahu's ongoing policy of obstruction and sabotaging any potential agreement".

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff nevertheless said the US administration was "hopeful" of agreement for a 60-day ceasefire by the end of this week.

The deal would include the return of 10 living hostages held by Palestinian militants since October 2023, and nine dead hostages, he added.

Of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas has rebuffed pressure to release all the hostages, demanding an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel wants to ensure militants in Gaza never again pose a threat to its security.

Qatari mediators had warned on Tuesday that it would take time to seal a deal, though Trump kept up his push for an agreement.

- 'Like an earthquake' -

On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Wednesday that 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes, at least six of them children. The military said it was looking into two of the strikes which killed 20.

"The explosion was massive, like an earthquake," said Zuhair Judeh, 40, who witnessed one of the strikes, which prompted frantic scenes as people scrabbled in the rubble for survivors.

"The bodies and remains of the martyrs were scattered," he added, calling it "a horrific massacre".

Due to restrictions imposed on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties accessing the area, AFP is unable to independently verify the death tolls and details shared by the parties involved.

Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,680 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

The military meanwhile said its troops crossed the border into southern Lebanon as part of targeted operations to dismantle infrastructure belonging to Hamas's Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israel signed a truce with Hezbollah last November but has kept up its strikes, hitting what it says are Hezbollah or Hamas targets.

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T.Bennett--TNT