Israel ready to talk ‘permanent ceasefire’ but Hamas must disarm: Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families Jerusalem would ‘work to bring the entire war to an end’, despite previously refusing to consider a permanent truce in Gaza.

Palestinian children sit amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Thursday. Picture: Eyad Baba / AFP

Benjamin Netanyahu says he’s optimistic Israel and Hamas will approve a ceasefire deal “in a few days,” and for the first time has indicated Jerusalem is ready to negotiate a permanent truce in Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister told hostage families in Washington that as soon as the first living hostages are released, “we will work to bring the entire war to an end,” according to a leaked recording provided to Israeli media. The remarks are the first time Mr Netanyahu has publicly contemplated ending the 23-month-old war, and came shortly before he left Washington after a five day trip.

Separately, Mr Netanyahu told US TV station Newsmax he believed the warring sides could come to a ceasefire agreement “in the next few days.”

In a video message from Washington, Mr Netanyahu said Israel’s “fundamental conditions” for a permanent ceasefire were that “Hamas lays down its weapons” and no longer has “governing or military capabilities”.

He warned that Israel would resume the war if Hamas didn’t agree to those conditions during the negotiations.

“If this can be achieved through negotiations, great. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will achieve it through other means, by using force, the force of our heroic army,” he said.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Gaza entered a fifth day on Thursday (local time) with the United States hopeful that a 60-day truce could be secured in the coming days.

One of Hamas’s red lines for a ceasefire was an Israeli agreement to a permanent truce. The militant group has agreed to release 10 living hostages but said it opposed a deal that includes a large Israeli military presence in Gaza and wanted the free flow of aid into the territory to ease a humanitarian crisis.

In Washington, Mr Netanyahu told hostage families that Hamas would determine which captives would be released during the truce.

A source present at the meeting told The Times of Israel that Mr Netanyahu said that as far as Israel was concerned, all of the hostages were considered “humanitarian” — meaning there is not a prioritisation of some hostages over the others.

The Islamist militant group was particularly opposed to Israeli control over Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and the so-called Morag Corridor between the southern city and Khan Yunis, he added.

Israel announced earlier this year that the army was seizing large areas in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants, as a way of pressuring Hamas to release hostages.

Smoke and fire rise to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Thursday. Picture: AP /Leo Correa

Senior Hamas official Bassem Nai said the group wanted an end to the current delivery of aid by a controversial US- and Israel-backed group.

On Thursday, eight children were among 17 killed in an Israeli strike at a medical point in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defence agency said.

The military said it had struck a Hamas militant in the city who had infiltrated Israel during the group’s October 7, 2023 attack and that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible”, adding the incident was under review.

Israel has agreed to ‘expand’ Gaza aid access

Under the deal struck between Israel and the EU on Thursday, aid would increase into Gaza that should see more food trucks entering and the opening of additional crossing points, the bloc’s top diplomat said.

“Today, we reached an agreement with Israel to expand humanitarian access to Gaza,” European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.

“This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers. We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,” Ms Kallas added.

Gaza’s two million residents are facing dire humanitarian conditions as Israel has severely limited aid during its devastating war with Hamas.

In a statement Ms Kallas said that the measures agreed by Israel “are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population.”

She said the steps included a “substantial increase of daily trucks for food and non- food items” going into Gaza, the opening of several more crossing points in both the northern and southern areas, and the reopening of routes from Jordan and Egypt.

“The EU stands ready to co-ordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, UN agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps,” the statement said.

Unanswered questions

Hamas has given no timeline for the release of hostages or indications about the return of the bodies of nine detainees that Israel says have died in captivity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Its announcement early Thursday AEST came as Mr Netanyahu wrapped up a visit to Washington, which included a meeting between Israeli, US and Qatari representatives.

Mr Netanyahu, under pressure at home to end the war as military casualties increase, has been uncompromising in his bid to crush Hamas and neutralise it as a security threat to Israel.

But after two high-profile meetings with Donald Trump, he indicated that a temporary truce deal could be on the horizon, echoing the US president’s own optimism that a deal can be struck soon.

A total of 251 hostages were seized in the October 7 attack. Forty-nine are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.