JERUSALEM, Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel is participating in talks for the freeing of more hostages.
“We are holding contacts at this very moment. I cannot detail the status. We are working to return them all,” he said. The prime minister made it clear to hostage families that the Gaza military campaign is pushing Hamas to negotiate, although he called the process a “tug of war,” as Egypt and Qatar are again playing a mediating role.
Netanyahu’s announcement came as Israel was discovering that an American-Canadian woman thought to have been a hostage was killled in the October 7th attack. Judih Weinstein, 70, from a kibbutz near Gaza, was pronounced dead Thursday, after authorities determined her body was in Gaza. Just days earlier, it had been announced that her husband Gad had also been murdered on October 7th.
Media reports indicate the proposed pause in fighting this round would involve releasing 40 more hostages, primarily women, the elderly, and minors. Israel would release many Palestiniian terrorists held in Israeli prisons, including some convicted of murder.
Netanyahu’s wife Sara joined her husband in meeting with hostage families. She told them, “What Hamas has done are crimes against humanity.. We all
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