{"id":278491,"date":"2025-10-05T02:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T02:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/278491\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T02:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T02:04:10","slug":"netanyahu-hopes-to-announce-the-release-of-all-hostages-from-gaza-in-the-coming-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/278491\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza ‘in the coming days’"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza<\/a> \u201cin the coming days,\u201d as Israel and Hamas prepare for indirect talks in Egypt on Monday on a new U.S. plan to end the war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a brief statement late Saturday, Netanyahu said he has sent a delegation to Egypt \u201cto finalize technical details,\u201d adding that \u201cour goal is to contain these negotiations to a time frame of a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Netanyahu signaled there would not be a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, something Hamas has long demanded. He said Israel\u2019s military will continue to hold territories it controls in Gaza, and that Hamas will be disarmed in the plan\u2019s second phase, diplomatically \u201cor through a military path by us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prime minister spoke after Hamas said it has accepted some elements of the U.S. plan<\/a>. President Donald Trump welcomed the militant group\u2019s statement but on Saturday warned that \u201cHamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump later said the ceasefire would begin immediately once Hamas confirms the \u201cinitial withdrawal line\u201d in Gaza. A map with his social media post appeared to show much of Gaza still open to Israeli forces.<\/p>\n

Trump has also ordered Israel<\/a> to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported a notable easing of Israeli strikes Saturday, though hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed, including women and children.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s army said leaders instructed it to prepare for the U.S. plan\u2019s first phase. Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike, said an official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record.<\/p>\n

Still, an Israeli strike on Gaza City\u2019s Tuffah neighborhood killed at least 17 and injured 25 others, said Al-Ahli hospital director Fadel Naim. \u201cThe strikes are still ongoing,\u201d Naim said. Israel\u2019s military said it struck a Hamas member and \u201cregrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah earlier Saturday said Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Momentum ahead of war\u2019s anniversary<\/p>\n

Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of Tuesday\u2019s second anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked it on Oct. 7, 2023. His proposal<\/a> has widespread international support. On Friday, Netanyahu\u2019s office said Israel was committed to ending the war.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s indirect talks are meant to prepare the way for the release of hostages from Gaza<\/a> and Palestinians from Israeli detention, mediator Egypt said.<\/p>\n

A senior Egyptian official said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Egypt to head the U.S. negotiating team. The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn\u2019t authorized to brief the media.<\/p>\n

The official also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position toward Gaza\u2019s future. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza\u2019s second most powerful militant group, said it accepted Hamas\u2019 response after rejecting the plan days earlier.<\/p>\n

Progress, but uncertainty ahead<\/p>\n

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages \u2014 around 20 of them believed to be alive \u2014 within three days. It would give up power and disarm.<\/p>\n

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.<\/p>\n

Hamas<\/a> said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. It didn\u2019t address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing.<\/p>\n

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel\u2019s Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn\u2019t lay down its arms.<\/p>\n

Others said that Hamas\u2019 position fundamentally remains unchanged. Its rhetoric \u201csimply repackages old demands in softer language,\u201d said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

Still, two vocal members of the right-wing bloc of Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, criticized the plan\u2019s progress but didn\u2019t threaten to immediately leave the government.<\/p>\n

And some speakers at the large weekly rally in Tel Aviv over the war expressed a cautious hope not heard for months.<\/p>\n

A group representing some hostages\u2019 families said the prospect of seeing loved ones return \u201chas never been closer.\u201d They appealed to Trump to keep pushing \u201cwith full force\u201d and warned that \u201cextremists on both sides\u201d will try to sabotage the plan.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across Europe<\/a> calling for the war\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Palestinians are \u2018truly tired\u2019<\/p>\n

Some Palestinians in Gaza worried that talks will break down again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground,\u201d said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired,\u201d said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious people roamed the shattered streets.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Israel\u2019s army warned Palestinians against trying to return to Gaza City, calling it a \u201cdangerous combat zone.\u201d Two residents said that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can still see the quadcopters everywhere,\u201d Mohamed al-Nashar said.<\/p>\n

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and over 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has topped 67,000. The toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names whose data had been verified.<\/p>\n

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s war coverage at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/israel-hamas-war<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":278492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97,143941,3881,372,26715,69,9249,4526,57,4527,15127,99,3462,16657,3463,143940,143942,143944,50,365,143943,13226,96,93,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-278491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-amir-avivi","10":"tag-ap-top-news","11":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","12":"tag-bezalel-smotrich","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-egypt","15":"tag-gaza-strip","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-hamas","18":"tag-hostage-situations","19":"tag-israel","20":"tag-israel-government","21":"tag-itamar-ben-gvir","22":"tag-mideast-wars","23":"tag-mohamed-abu-selmiyah","24":"tag-mohamed-al-nashar","25":"tag-mohammad-shaat","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-religion","28":"tag-sameer-qudeeh","29":"tag-steve-witkoff","30":"tag-war-and-unrest","31":"tag-washington-news","32":"tag-world","33":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115319109631525928","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}