An Israeli senior official voiced optimism Wednesday night about significant progress in the talks aimed at securing the release of hostages and ending the war in Gaza, indicating that a final agreement could be reached by Friday.
Speaking to Al-Arabiya, the official said, “We are cautiously approaching the completion of the first phase. Trump is applying pressure, and the Arab position carries unprecedented weight. There are requests to adjust the withdrawal map in the first phase.”
Other sources within Israel echoed this assessment, predicting that negotiations could wrap up within the next one to three days. An official announcement, they said, is likely to come by Friday, with the first wave of hostage releases anticipated early next week.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that Israeli intelligence believes Hamas may not be able to locate all 48 hostages required for release under the terms of the deal.
In preparation for the agreement, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Deputy Attorney General have drafted a formal government decision outlining the framework for both the hostage release and the concurrent freeing of Palestinian prisoners. The document does not yet include the finalized list of prisoners, which remains under active negotiation.
Several Arab outlets claimed that Hamas’s proposed list includes Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa’adat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israeli officials, however, firmly denied this, clarifying that neither of those names appear on Israel’s approved lists, and “even if they are, Israel will not agree to release them.”
Despite those assurances, Kan News reported that Sa’adat—the mastermind behind the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi—is nevertheless expected to be freed as part of the eventual exchange.
High-level officials joined the discussions today, among them Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, along with Minister Ron Dermer and Turkey’s intelligence chief.
Representatives from all delegations convened for a joint meeting to unify their positions, joined by Qatar’s prime minister and top Egyptian intelligence officials who continue to serve as the key mediators between Israel and Hamas.
{Matzav.com}
That’s because, contrary to how the media portrays things, Hamas is not the only or even the primary problem in Gaza.
Other terrorist gangs exist and hold Jews hostage, like how Rom Braslavski suffers in captivity of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist gang.