Netanyahu Postpones Cabinet Nod on Ceasefire After Hamas Made New Demands
Jerusalem Post: “Hamas made new last-minute demands regarding the Philadelphi corridor moments before they told Qatari mediators they agreed to the hostage-ceasefire deal.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday postponed a cabinet meeting expected to endorse the Gaza ceasefire deal after terrorist group Hamas pressed for additional last-minute demands.
Besides calling for the release of several of its top terrorists from Israeli prisons, Hamas is also demanding an Israeli withdrawal from the 9-mile-long Philadelphi Corridor, a major terrorist supply-line between Gaza and Egypt.
“Hamas made new last-minute demands regarding the Philadelphi corridor moments before they told Qatari mediators they agreed to the hostage-ceasefire deal,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
The six-week ceasefire was set to start on Sunday, potentially leading to the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 1,000 Palestinian terrorists, many of them serving life sentences for serious and murderous crimes.
Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages, including women, elderly, and toddlers, when they massacred their way through southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The terrorist group is still holding 94 hostages, only 60 of them believed to be alive.
In contrast to the self-congratulatory statements issued by U.S. and Arab negotiating teams, the deal is still being finalized, The Times of Israel reported Thursday:
Mossad chief David Barnea and the Israeli negotiating team are still in Doha finalizing the details of the ceasefire-hostage release deal, (…).
While Qatar and the US, who brokered the deal, announced last night that it had been reached, Israel has insisted that small gaps remain, including a dispute over which Palestinian security prisoners will be freed. Netanyahu has yet to formally announce a deal or address the nation, saying he will only do so when it is finalized.
Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the cabinet endorsement in response to Hamas’s deceptive negotiation tactics, the Israeli news website YNET reported:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed Thursday morning Hamas had made last-minute demands to release life-sentenced prisoners as part of a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, which Israel vetoed as part of the agreement.
“Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions,” a statement read, explaining delays in convening the Cabinet, which was scheduled to meet on Thursday at 11 a.m. “The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.
During the night, the Prime Minister's Office issued an unusual statement: "Hamas is trying to withdraw from the understandings of the agreement".
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) January 16, 2025
This won’t be the first negotiated ceasefire Hamas will be jeopardizing to further its terrorist warfare against Israel. In November 2023, Hamas violated the previous hostages-for-terrorists deal, ambushing Israeli soldiers in Gaza and staging a deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
Hamas terrorist, supporters celebrate in Gaza streets
Here is Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya's full speech—which he gave live on Al Jazeera from Qatar—in which he expressed pride in the Oct. 7th massacre and vowed to repeat it.
Hamas is a genocidal death cult and must be vanquished from this earth.
P.S. Subtitles generated with A.I. pic.twitter.com/3ButgSmmZS
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) January 15, 2025
While many Western leaders and media commentators are selling the deal as a step towards peace in the region, Hamas used the respite to demonstrate support for its ongoing murderous jihad against Israel.
Hamas terror fighters and their followers were seen cheering the news across Gaza. Terrorists were seen brandishing their weapons amid Islamic war-cries of “Allahu Akbar.”
Hamas fighters have deemed it safe to go out in the street to join Palestinians in celebrating a ceasefire in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/w6InKUnmY9
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) January 15, 2025
“Crowds of Gazans chanted and embraced on Wednesday as news spread that a ceasefire and hostage release deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas,” France’s AFP news agency reported. “As an ambulance squeezed through the crowd to reach the hospital, smiling men and women alike chanted “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest” in Arabic, and waved the Palestinian flag.”
It is worth noting that vehicles marked as ambulances have often been used by Hamas to move its terror fighters in and out of combat zones.
“In one part of (Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza), the crowd cheered as a vehicle driven by Palestinian militants slowly wound through the streets, with fighters standing in its open sliding doors waving their AK-47s,” the AFP noted.
BREAKING: Thousands of Palestinians are out on the streets of Gaza chanting "Allahu Akbar! We will go to Jerusalem, [sacrifice] millions of martyrs."
They are directly saying they want more war and to die. What kind of perverse culture is this? pic.twitter.com/woz6it1Uli
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 15, 2025
Iran hails deal as ‘victory’ for Hamas
Iran’s tyrant Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who’s regime finances and armes Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, welcomed the deal. “Today, the world realized that the patience of the people of Gaza and the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance,” Ayatollah claimed, adding that Israel had been “defeated.”
The regime’s military arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also hailed that deal, which it saw as the ‘victory’ for Hamas and a ‘defeat’ for Israel. Qatar’s state-run Al Jazeera reported:
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have hailed the ceasefire deal as a “victory” for Palestinians and a “defeat” for Israel.
“The end of the war and the imposition of a ceasefire … is a clear victory and a great victory for Palestine and a bigger defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement.
Russia and China also hailed the deal. Beijing “hopes for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire through effective implementation of the deal,” the regime’s Xinhua news agency reported.
European and Western aid organizations are already planning to roll out a ‘development’ program for Gaza. Before the October 7 attacks, a substantial part of the so-called humanitarian aid had gone into building and financing Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure “Aid agencies plan major deployment once ceasefire comes into effect,” German state TV DW reported. “Several international NGOs are planning major operations for Sunday in anticipation of the ceasefire.”
Western, Arab leaders welcome the deal
After President Joe Biden and President-Elect Donald Trump both took credit for the deal, several European and Arab leaders supported the arrangement.
Reuters reported official Turkish, Qatari, and Egyptian responses. Qatar, Hamas’s biggest Arab backer, and Egypt played key roles in the ceasefire negotiations:
TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER HAKAN FIDAN
He told reporters in Ankara the ceasefire deal was an important step for regional stability. Fidan also said Turkish efforts for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would continue.QATAR’S PRIME MINISTER SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI
The prime minister called for calm in the Gaza Strip between now and Jan. 19 when the ceasefire deal takes effect.EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT ABDEL FATTAH AL-SISI
He welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal, according to a post on X, and stressed the importance of a fast delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The European Union and Western European leaders, too, were fully behind the deal, Germany’s DW TV reported:
Leaders across Europe welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the deal, saying it “brings hope to an entire region.”
“Both parties must fully implement this agreement as a stepping stone toward lasting stability in the region and a diplomatic resolution of the conflict,” she said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the news, saying the agreement must be implemented “to the letter” and called for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and its allies in Gaza. (…)
French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of ensuring that the ceasefire deal holds, writing: “The agreement must be respected. The hostages, freed. The Gazans, rescued. A political solution must be found.” (…)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, too, welcomed the deal.
“After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for,” Starmer said in a statement, adding that the international community’s attention should now turn to securing a “permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people, grounded in a two-state solution.”
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Comments
Just them as Abba Eban said “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”
Hamas and the Hamasholes LOST! Not to mention that THEY broke the last ceasefire.
Why would Israel trust them?
I would say deal off if every single hostage or their remains are not returned immediately. Pres. Trump will see to that.
I certainly would like the hostages to be freed. They are innocent pawns in this fight
If Israel finishes the fight, then those 50 odd hostages will definitely be killed by hamas. If they are freed, then they will live.
Unfortunately if Israel doesnt finish the fight, a few thousand more Israelis will be killed in the next 2-5 years. Unfortunately, finishing the fight will result in the deaths of the remaining hostages but save lives in the long term.
Hamas does not value any human life. Non-Muslims are pawns in the game and Muslims are martyrs to the cause of Islam. Any truce is just temporary while Hamas rests and resupplies for the next fight. They will not relent until they have achieved their goals regardless of the loss in lives.
My appologies if my post comes across as crude or disrespectful of the hostages lives. Again I believe all lifes matters.
IMO your analysis about the long-term impacts of lopsided exchange rate ‘deals’ v demanding immediate return of hostages to start me got jobs for a broader cease fire is correct. Sucks for the hostages and their families but there’s no real way around the fact that lopsided ‘deals’ or any ‘deals’ for hostages other than in return for Israel halting offensive operations to kill every member of Hamas only encourages more hostage taking by Hamas.
250 hostages, not 50
Nvm…I read the first count…it’s down to 60, carry on.
Because of course Hamas did!
The supposed deal makes no sense. I for one hope the new demand makes it fall apart.
The Hamassholes can never be trusted for anything they agree to. All hostages should be released because everyone knows the remaining ones will be used again in the future as pawns. Now is the time to Demand all hostages be released now or Hamas will be eradicated along with their champion Iran. I think the mullahs will cave.
There will be no peace until Islam is rendered a dead religion with every copy of the Koran incinerated.
It’s not possible to kill an idea, but you can do your best to discredit it.
.
In 2024, how many innocent civilians were murdered in the name of Quetzalcaotl?
Satan will eventually be cast into the lake of fire. Until then it is not possible to completely eradicate evil.
Never spike the ball when discussing ‘peace agreements’ with Muslims. Allah commands Muslims to deceive. They see it as dishonorable for them to to honor agreements with infidels. Taqiyya is real.
No hostages for terrorists. That implies moral equivalency between them. Any “deal” in which the Islamofascists/Muslim terrorists demand that, should be rejected.
And, the staggered timing of hostage release is offensive and smacks of timidity. These poor people haven’t suffered enough?
The deal’s terms should be — “Release all hostages, alive and dead, NOW, or, face total destruction. On second thought, actually, we’re going to destroy you, anyway.”
THAT should be the ultimatum — not a “negotiation.” 1,400 years of Islamofascist/Muslim terrorist history should have amply demonstrated to rational minds that you cannot “negotiate” with these evil thugs; you can only destroy them.
Negotiation with Islamofascists/Muslim terrorists is predictably and intrinsically a fool’s errand, because you are dealing with unabashed liars and fanatics who don’t possess honesty or good faith, and, who are incapable of honoring any agreement. You can haggle over the price of a Turkish rug at a bazaar, but, not over the lives of hostages taken and imprisoned.
One of the things for which I have to give Jimmy Carter credit is a lesson I learned while he was president.:
You can’t negotiate with people who don’t think logically.
Here, it looked like Hamas had gotten the message, “Daddy is coming home next week and he is going to beat your ass till it’s bloody. Make a deal with Joe boy, cause Joe wants a deal so badly that he will give you a LOT, plus Daddy will lose his excuse to beat you if the Americans are all freed.”
However, Hamas didn’t recognize the truth of “this is the best deal you’re ever going to see.” They only see weakness. “If this guy wants a deal that badly, he will give us even more. HE too is running out of time before Trump takes office.” So: they asked for even more at the last moment.
Opps.
I don’t know what pressure Biden could have put on Israel to force their side of the deal; I can only assume there’s a quiet trade promise from the EU to buy Israeli goods after a ceasefire.
Fortunately, the Israelis DO think logically.
Hamas does think logically. You just can’t imagine any human being having goals like theirs.
This x 10^100.
Hamas is guaranteed to keep doing what has always worked in the past. Israel is spent of resourses, including international support. Of course Hamas is going to kick Israel in the arse when they’re over a barrel. It’s the most logical move in the world.
Trump wanted this deal done before he took office. He wants to restart the Abraham accords and get undisputed credit for it if he can finish it.
I don’t believe that Hamas knows where most of the hostages, that they are negotiating to return, are located. Their negotiators are playing games.
This. I think they sold some of them out of the Gaza strip.
Mark LEvin described it well in his radio show
It sounded like Trump surrendered
Trump is smarter than that. He, and we, have all seen how Hamas routinely snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. They had a deal and they got greedy, as they always do.
Mr. Trump, next week, will say, “See? We tried! Great deal, best deal ever! But Hamas once again rejected peace. Sad!” And then he will nod to the Israelis, and the gloves will come off.
Well said! I think and hope you are correct.
Even if he didn’t plan on it, he’s clever enough to do so after-the-fact.
Also, J20 is certainly going to come and go without us receiving 100% of the hostages, so who knows…
It did and I don’t know why,he had the winning hand
The devil is in the details; Hamas decided to push its luck, so now Netanyahu has a chance to scuttle a bad deal at a very small political price.
The frog should stop carrying the scorpion across the river.
Good. No deal with hammmas vermin
My opinion?
The Biden administration ‘negotiators’ are pushing Hamas to keep making more and more demands intentionally to try and destroy the deal.
They’re stupid enough to think Trump negotiates like they do, where ‘the deal’ is more important than the terms.
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