Katz Reports Hostage Deal in Stages, Predicts Overwhelming Cabinet Support

Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Defense Minister Israel Katz, November 10, 2024.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday at a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “we are as close as we’ve been to a hostage deal since the previous deal (November 24 through December 1, 2023 – DI).”

Katz spoke against a backdrop of voices expressing cautious optimism, in Israel and among the negotiators. However, gaps still remain, with the bone of contention being the number of hostages to be released.

Israel and Hamas have agreed not to release details of the emerging agreement, but Katz confirmed for the first time that the deal would be carried out in stages, adding: “There will be an overwhelming majority in the cabinet and an overwhelming majority in the government for the hostage deal.”

A senior Hamas source told Saudi-owned Al-Sharq TV that the talks are bringing the parties closer to a deal and a ceasefire than ever before. According to the report, Hamas and the other terror groups in the Gaza Strip have shown great flexibility in the discussions and agreed to a gradual cessation of hostilities by a pre-agreed timetable, accompanied by guarantees from international entities.

According to the report, the mediators “increased the pace of talks to narrow the gaps to reach an agreement soon.” The senior source added that Hamas would not give up its demand that the agreement should lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities, a full withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, and the return of displaced residents to their homes in central and northern Gaza.

WELCOME TO THE GAPS

This is the area where the gaps are most substantial between Hamas’s and Israel’s position, especially since it appears that Katz believes the Philadelphi corridor and Netzarim corridor will not constitute an obstacle to carrying out the deal since Hamas is willing to proceed with Israeli control of both key stretches.

“The other side understands that we are not going to end the war,” Katz noted. “There is a dialogue with many parties about the day after, but the condition is that Hamas will not control the Strip.”

As you may recall, the issue of Israeli control over the Philadelphi corridor and the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border was one of the main obstacles on the way to a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel in the past year. Minister Katz has not specified whether Hamas has backed down and withdrawn its demand for the removal of IDF forces from Philadelphi (and Netzarim), or whether it was Israel that agreed to relinquish control of the Egyptian-Gaza border crossing and the two corridors in exchange for a significant hostage release.

According to Egyptian sources cited by Al-Akhbar, the talks in recent days have focused on “expanding the deal, so that it includes the release of a larger number of hostages and lasts for more days, but the issue has not yet been finally decided.”

According to these sources, the pressure exerted by Trump is the main factor in the escalation of Israeli activity in the Gaza Strip, which is intended to extract additional concessions from Hamas and allow, among other things, “freedom of movement” for the IDF within the Strip.

According to the sources, Israel continues to oppose Egyptian demands regarding the operation of the Rafah crossing. This after Netanyahu rejected the proposal to establish a committee on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to oversee the crossing and exit mechanisms from the Strip.