Tue Feb 11th, 2025

Israel's foreign minister says there is "progress" in the agreement to release the hostages

Gideon Saar and Lars Rasmussen Photo: Shlomi Amsalem / GPO via Facebook

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that negotiations for the agreement to release the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are “moving forward” in a joint statement to the media with his Danish counterpart, Lars Rasmussen, with whom he held a meeting in Jerusalem.

“I have informed the (Danish) minister that there is progress in the negotiations to release the hostages. Israel very much wants to release the hostages and is working hard to reach an agreement. Negotiations are moving forward. I thank our American friends for their help. We will soon know what the other side’s position is,” Saar said.

The Foreign Minister received Rasmussen in Jerusalem, where they held a long private meeting with their two teams, according to a statement from the Ministry, the main topic of which was the “need to free” the nearly one hundred hostages still held by the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

Reports in the country last night suggested that mediators had made a major breakthrough in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas that are taking place in Doha.

The possible agreement on the table envisages three phases in which Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be gradually released in exchange for Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails, and would culminate in the reconstruction of the enclave and the establishment of a new government in the coastal enclave.

Amid this growing optimism, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made it clear that he will not be part of a “defeat agreement,” saying that now is the time to “occupy and cleanse” the entire Strip, “to take control of humanitarian aid from Hamas, and open the gates of hell in Gaza until Hamas completely surrenders and all hostages are returned,” in a message shared on social media.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, both Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have made no secret of their preference for military action to completely defeat Hamas.

Moreover, the arrival of this agreement could precipitate his departure from Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.

The Foreign Minister also discussed with the Danish Minister the situation in Lebanon and Syria, countries where Israeli troops are still deployed and operating.

In fact, the Israel Defense Forces bombed a number of positions of the pro-Iranian Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah in both Arab countries early this morning.

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article

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