Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recalled the Israeli hostage negotiations team from Doha, Qatar, after the terrorist group Hamas backtracked on previous agreements and demanded the release of more terrorists in exchange for the remaining Israeli captives.
“Israel brought its delegation home from Gaza ceasefire talks for consultations on Thursday after Hamas delivered a new response to a proposal for a truce and hostages deal,” Reuters reported. “The Israeli Prime Minister’s office thanked mediators for their efforts and said the negotiators were returning home for ‘further consultations.'”
Prime Minister Netanyahu fell short of declaring the breakdown of the hostage talks, The Times of Israel reported:
After Hamas responds to the latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bringing the hostage negotiating team back from Qatar to “continue consultations in Israel,” says his office in a statement.
“We appreciate the efforts of mediators Qatar and Egypt and the efforts of [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff to bring about a breakthrough in the talks,” says the PMO.
It’s unclear from the statement whether the development points to a breakdown in talks.
Hamas has raised its demands by asking for the release of hundreds of murderous terrorists, more than previously agreed upon under the proposal worked out by White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The jihadist group also wants the U.S.-backed aid group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to be ousted from Gaza, and the border crossing with Egypt, the main terrorist supply route, to be reopened.
“Hamas has backtracked on several agreements in the negotiations on a ceasefire and the release of hostages, raising new demands including the release of 150 prisoners serving life sentences and an additional 2,000 detainees arrested after October 7,” the Israel news website Ynetnews reported.
“These new demands contradict the mediators’ proposal regarding the key issues of prisoner release, which mentioned releasing 125 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,200 detainees arrested after October 7. Israel said the new demand is unacceptable, as are demands to remove the GHF humanitarian aid fund, reopen the Rafah crossing and more,” the news outlet added.
The ouster of the GHF aid group will pave the way for aid delivery to be made by the United Nations and other international organizations. According to an estimate, Hamas made up to a billion dollars skimming off aid from the UN and other international groups in 2024 alone.
The UN, which has been deeply infiltrated by Hamas in Gaza, has refused to work together with the GHF, Israeli media reported Wednesday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday eliminated the leading Hamas terrorist operative running the weapons smuggling operation between Gaza and Egypt.
“Earlier today (…), the IDF struck and eliminated the Hamas terrorist Muhammad al-‘Amour in the area of Khan Yunis,” the military disclosed in a statement Thursday. “Al-‘Amour was responsible for the goods terminal at the Rafah Crossing. In this role, he oversaw the smuggling of hundreds of weapons and military equipment into the Gaza Strip, directly contributing to Hamas’ military buildup.”
Al-‘Amour’s elimination highlights why Hamas wants Israel to withdraw troops from the Rafah crossing. The slain terrorist “played a key role in the smuggling network of Hamas’ military wing, coordinating and leading efforts to bring weapons into the Gaza Strip and to Hamas with the help of collaborators,” the military said.
Hamas wants to regain control of the Philadelphi corridor, the nine-mile strip separating Egypt from Gaza. When the Israeli troops first moved into Rafah in the wake of the October 7 massacre, the corridor was riddled with secret terror tunnels. The IDF detected and destroyed most of those tunnels.
“For years, the goods terminal [Rafah] served as a gateway for smuggling military equipment and weapons into the Gaza Strip, thus providing support to the terrorist organization in order to advance its military capabilities against the State of Israel,” the IDF explained.
Hamas’s demand to gain control of the Rafah crossing shows the terrorist group’s intention to rebuild its rocket and weapons arsenal as soon as the IDF disengages from Gaza.
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