The vast majority of Israelis support a hostage exchange deal with Hamas, President Isaac Herzog said yesterday.
“Our commitment to bringing the hostages home is unwavering,” Herzog said in a statement.
“The entire nation desires their return, with an overwhelming majority supporting the hostage exchange,” he said. “It is the state’s duty to ensure their return, which is a core part of our national consensus.”
Israeli Channel 13, citing Mossad sources, said Israeli officials are optimistic about reaching a deal to bring back Israeli prisoners of war held in Gaza.
The sources said Israel views the current moment as “opportune” for reaching an agreement with Hamas, with security authorities advising political leaders to capitalise on it.
Netanyahu: Gaza deal must let Israel resume fighting until war goals met
On Saturday, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted informed sources as saying that the negotiating delegation “will leave on Monday to continue negotiations on the deal.”
For months, efforts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a hostage exchange and ceasefire have been hampered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of Hamas’s call to halt hostilities.
Israel has killed more than 38,150 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, mostly women and children, and injured over 87,800 others, according to local health authorities.
Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered the occupation state to “immediately halt” its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.