Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has added several new demands amid negotiations for the second of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Israel’s Channel 13 has reported.
The report said Netanyahu is demanding Hamas leadership be exiled, for Gaza to be demilitarized, and for Israel to continue maintaining “security control” of the Strip, which would mean a continued Israeli military occupation or blockade.
Hamas has rejected Israeli calls for the group to be disarmed, and its main demand has been for an Israeli withdrawal, meaning it would be unlikely to agree to an arrangement that keeps Israeli troops in Gaza. On Wednesday, Hamas offered to release all remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s envoy for the Middle East, acknowledged on Thursday that it would be “difficult” for the second phase of the ceasefire to be implemented but said it was a possibility.
“The issue with [phase] two is that there’s supposed to be an end to the war, and the Israelis have a red line that Hamas cannot be in the government,” Witkoff said. “It’s hard to square that circle, but we’re making a lot of progress in that conversation, and hopefully it leads to good things and good results.”
Witkoff also defended Trump’s calls for the US to “take over” Gaza, which would require an ethnic cleansing campaign since Palestinians don’t want to leave despite the massive destruction caused by the US-backed Israeli siege and bombing campaign.
“I sat in Gaza with a bulletproof vest looking at the scenery, and I don’t know why anyone would want to live there today. It’s illogical to me,” Witkoff said.
The Trump administration has also backed Netanyahu’s stated goal of “eradicating” Hamas, signaling the US is ready to support Israel if it decides to restart its genocidal war on Gaza.
In the meantime, the hostage exchanges continue as Hamas released four bodies of Israeli captives, including the remains of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, brothers who were only nine months and four years old when kidnapped during the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Hamas has maintained that the children and their mother were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2023. Israel said it identified the remains of Kfir and Ariel after receiving their remains but claimed the third body was not their mother.
Hamas is expected to release six live Israeli hostages on Saturday, and Israel will free hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails, including many women and children who were captured in Gaza following October 7 despite having nothing to do with the attack.
