Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: CollectedIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that several government meetings will be held on Tuesday night regarding the release of the hostages. This information was informed through a tweet from the Prime Minister’s official Ax (formerly Twitter) account. In this situation, it is believed that the efforts to stop the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of the hostages are going in a positive direction.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office tweeted after 8pm on Tuesday, Bangladesh time — ‘Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the War Cabinet at 6pm, the Security Cabinet at 7pm and the Cabinet General Meeting at 8pm today to move forward with the release of our hostages.’
Earlier, Hamas, the Palestinian organization that controls Gaza, claimed that the ongoing conflict with Israel was close or a ceasefire was close. Hamas head Ismail Haniya confirmed this to Reuters on Tuesday. He told the news agency that Hamas has agreed to the ceasefire talks with Israel that were being mediated by Qatar.
Hania later wrote on her Telegram channel, ‘We are very close to a ceasefire.’
A senior Hamas leader told Al-Jazeera about how long the ceasefire would last, how much and how much aid would be sent to Gaza in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rashiq claimed that the two sides mainly discussed the release of women and children through the mediation of Qatar.
It should be noted that on October 7, Hamas fighters crossed the border into Israel and killed thousands of people and took approximately 240 citizens hostage to Gaza. Since that day, the Israel Defense Forces have been indiscriminately bombing Gaza in retaliation. They are currently conducting ground operations as well. According to the Gaza authorities, about 13,500 ordinary Palestinians have died so far.
