Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday admitted that he is not sure that a deal will be reached with the Palestinian group "Hamas", reports The Times of Israel.
This was stated by families of hostages who met him.
One of the relatives who attended the meeting, Zvika Mor, whose son Eitan is held captive in Gaza, told Jewish media afterward that his impression was that Netanyahu "didn't believe there would be a deal.
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Mor says he and his colleagues at the hardline Gvura and Tikva forums, which represent families of some slain soldiers and some hostages, have expressed concern about the deal currently being negotiated.
Netanyahu reiterated during the meeting that if the deal is made, it will "protect Israel's interests". They say the prime minister told US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during their meeting yesterday that "Israel will not leave the Philadelphia Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor under any circumstances.
We recall that Israel discovered the bodies of six hostages from the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza overnight, according to statements from the military and the Prime Minister's Office.
The families of Yagev Buchstab, Alexander Danzig, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Perry have been informed
The Hostage Families Forum, an organization that represents the majority of hostage families, has renewed its call for the government to strike a hostage release deal with the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the help of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalize the deal currently on the table," the statement said.
Relatives of the hostages organized a series of protests in Israel with these demands.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is on a tour of the Middle East this week trying to secure a ceasefire and hostage return agreement between Israel and Hamas.
"Hamas" said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden's comment that the Palestinian group was withdrawing from the Gaza ceasefire agreement with Israel was "misleading".
Biden, answering questions about the ceasefire agreement, said: "Israel says they can work it out, they are prepared. But I was told that "Hamas" now withdrawing".
As he boarded a plane after delivering a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, he added: "We'll see. We will continue to insist".
"Hamas" said Biden's statements did not reflect the true position of the movement, which said it wanted to achieve an end to hostilities.
The current war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when armed fighters of "Hamas" invaded Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, the Israeli army has leveled large swathes of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, causing deadly famine and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.