The Israeli negotiating group on the issue of hostages regarded the decision of the Palestinian Hamas movement to release the hostages as a positive step towards a peace agreement, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was surprised by US President Donald Trump’s statement that the movement was ready to move towards peace, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported, citing an Israeli official.
The Hamas movement announced on Friday its readiness to release all living Israeli hostages and hand over the bodies of the dead according to Trump’s plan. Earlier, Trump threatened the most terrible consequences if Hamas did not provide a positive response to his 20-point proposal by Sunday.
“The Israeli negotiating team dealing with the hostage issue actually regarded the Hamas response as a positive reaction that paves the way for reaching an agreement,” the journalist wrote on his social media page.
According to the source, Trump’s statement about the movement’s readiness for peace surprised Netanyahu. The official also said that Netanyahu sees the Hamas response as a rejection of the plan previously proposed by Trump.
A statement from Hamas about its readiness to release the hostages, translated into English, was later posted on Trump’s page on the Truth Social network. Later, Trump said that Israel must immediately stop the attacks on the Gaza Strip to ensure the safe release of the hostages, and stressed Hamas’ readiness for a peace agreement.
Israel has not yet given an official response to the Hamas statement, but many Israeli observers and journalists note that the Hamas statement does not mention the group’s agreement to key Israeli demands for disarmament and non-participation in the governance of the Gaza Strip in the future.