{"id":91642,"date":"2025-07-25T14:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T14:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/91642\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T14:57:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T14:57:08","slug":"netanyahu-says-israel-considering-alternatives-to-ceasefire-talks-with-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/91642\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu says Israel considering alternatives to ceasefire talks with Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said Friday his government was considering \u201calternative options\u201d to ceasefire talks with Hamas<\/a> after Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic.<\/p>\n

The teams left Qatar<\/a> on Thursday as President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas\u2019 latest response to proposals for a deal showed a \u201clack of desire\u201d to reach a truce. Witkoff said the U.S. will look at \u201calternative options,\u201d without elaborating.<\/p>\n

In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, \u201cHamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas\u2019s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,\u201d he said. He did not elaborate. Israel\u2019s government didn\u2019t immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week. <\/p>\n

A breakthrough on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas<\/a> has eluded the Trump administration as humanitarian conditions worsen in Gaza<\/a>. Israel has come under mounting pressure as hunger among Gaza\u2019s more than 2 million people has worsened and deaths related to malnutrition<\/a> have accelerated. <\/p>\n

In recent days more then two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel\u2019s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out. The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state<\/a>, saying, \u201cThe urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.\u2033<\/p>\n

Hamas official Bassem Naim said Friday that he was told the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations.<\/p>\n

Hamas said that Witkoff\u2019s remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu\u2019s benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered. <\/p>\n

The sides have held weeks of talks in Qatar, reporting small signs of progress but no major breakthroughs. Officials have said a main sticking point is the redeployment of Israeli troops after any ceasefire takes place.<\/p>\n

The deal under discussion is expected to include an initial 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages<\/a> and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting ceasefire.<\/p>\n

The talks have been bogged down over competing demands for ending the war. Hamas says it will only release all hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal and end to the war. Israel says it will not agree to end the conflict until Hamas gives up power and disarms. The militant group says it is prepared to leave power but not surrender its weapons. <\/p>\n

Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in different locations, including tunnels, and says it has ordered its guards to kill them if Israeli forces approach.<\/p>\n

Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza but fewer than half are believed to be alive. Their families say the start-stop talks are excruciating. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that maybe something will come from the time that the negotiation, Israeli team were in Doha,\u201d said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage. \u201cAnd when I heard that they\u2019re coming back, I ask myself: When will this nightmare end?\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Israeli strikes continued across Gaza. <\/p>\n

At least 22 people were killed since Thursday night, according to hospital records at Nasser Hospital where the bodies arrived. Some were killed in strikes, others and others were killed while seeking aid, said the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering \u201calternative options\u201d to ceasefire…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":89610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97,3881,60812,372,69,8703,57,4527,15127,3464,99,3462,373,3097,3463,50,59769,6673,365,13226,96,93,103,107,60811],"class_list":{"0":"post-91642","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-ap-top-news","10":"tag-bassem-naim","11":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-emmanuel-macron","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-hamas","16":"tag-hostage-situations","17":"tag-international-agreements","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-israel-government","20":"tag-israel-hamas-war","21":"tag-middle-east","22":"tag-mideast-wars","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-prisoner-exchange","25":"tag-qatar","26":"tag-religion","27":"tag-steve-witkoff","28":"tag-war-and-unrest","29":"tag-washington-news","30":"tag-world","31":"tag-world-news","32":"tag-yehuda-cohen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114914462611325678","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91642","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=91642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}