Israeli Optimism for Potential Deal, Netanyahu to Ask Trump to Pressure for Expulsion of Hamas Leaders from Qatar and Turkey

Translation by SadaNews - The Hebrew Channel Reshet Kan revealed tonight, Wednesday, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz agreed in closed discussions on the necessity of concluding a prisoner exchange deal.

The two believe that measures must be taken to end Hamas's control over Gaza through the agreement. SadaNews translated.

Israel has not officially announced its approval of the proposal presented to it.

According to the channel, Israel is interested in continuing the talks at the beginning of next week, and an Israeli official told the Hebrew channel that there are positive indicators paving the way for progress in the talks with Hamas in Doha or Cairo.

Meanwhile, Israel is still waiting for Hamas's response, while the United States is pressuring Qatar in this regard to move the agreements forward.

The channel quoted an informed source saying, as translated by SadaNews, that the wording of Clause Eleven of the proposal, which refers to a permanent ceasefire, has been tightened.

This clause states that the mediators guarantee that negotiations will continue 60 days after the ceasefire if no new agreement is reached.

An involved source in the negotiations said that the momentum is positive, but added that as long as Hamas does not respond, it is impossible to predict how things will progress.

Hamas wants clear guarantees to end the war and demands a larger withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, a return to the previous pattern of humanitarian aid distribution, and continued control over the area.

According to Palestinian sources, Hamas sees that the mediators have taken a step towards them but want another step in their direction, and they want a clear, unambiguous written guarantee from the mediators that would lead to a complete end to the war.

Meanwhile, Channel 12 reported, as translated by SadaNews, that it is expected that an agreement will be reached next week, indicating that there are positive developments in this file.

In a related context, it reported that Netanyahu will ask U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting in Washington next week to exert direct pressure on Qatar to threaten senior Hamas officials with expulsion if they do not reach a prisoner deal soon and ease their hardline positions.

The channel pointed to discussions that took place in recent days within political and security circles regarding the issue of senior Hamas leaders abroad and their special treatment.

Senior officials in the Israeli political and security leadership, as translated by SadaNews, stated that the way to achieve real flexibility from Hamas is by exerting pressure and imposing sanctions on its senior officials abroad.

These same sources added: Senior Hamas officials travel around the world and feel no pressure on them, so they are not in a hurry to finalize a deal.