Netanyahu offers NIS 5m. for info on hostages, informant can exit Gaza

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Israel offers NIS 5M reward and safe passage from Gaza for hostage intelligence, up from NIS 1M.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF NOVEMBER 18, 2024 18:23 Updated: NOVEMBER 18, 2024 18:29

Israel has offered five million shekels and safe passage out of Gaza for any Palestinian who provides the IDF with information about the location of the hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a closed-door session of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, a source confirmed to The Jerusalem Post.

“I gave an order to increase the reward for those who bring information about the hostage - NIS 5 million for each hostage instead of NIS 1 million and safe passage for the informant and his family,” Netanyahu said.

In his public comments, he stressed that Israel is willing to do small deals, by which captors would be given monetary rewards and free passage out of Gaza in exchange for releasing the hostages in their custody.

He spoke as the negotiations have stalled, with the United States and Netanyahu blaming Hamas, while Qatar has blamed both Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu’s political and public opponents have blamed him.

Qatar, which, along with Egypt, has been the main mediator for a deal to secure the freedom of the remaining 101 hostages, suspended its participation in the talks last week.

Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Hamad City following an Israeli evacuation order, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 11, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)

Change of power

The change of power in Washington, with US President Joe Biden now a lame-duck leader and President-elect Donald Trump due to enter the White House on January 20, has placed additional obstacles on a deal.

Netanyahu stressed, however, that talks were still ongoing and that the possibility of small deals was being examined.

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