By Howard Goller
(Reuters) -Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the 12-day war with Iran had created opportunities for Israel, and the first was the return of hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
His remarks, coupled with the Jerusalem District Court’s postponement of his testimony this week in his long-running corruption trial, gave rise to speculation that progress may be made to end the Gaza conflict and secure the hostages’ release.
The court accepted on Sunday Netanyahu’s request for the delay, citing classified diplomatic and security grounds. U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested on Saturday the trial could interfere with the Israeli leader’s ability to negotiate.
Israel’s military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on Friday the war in Iran, which ended on June 24, could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli public radio Kan said Israel’s security cabinet had met on Sunday evening and would meet again on Monday. Israel’s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu’s, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, Israeli media said.
On a Sunday visit to a security facility of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, Netanyahu said: “I want to inform you that as you probably know, many opportunities have opened up now following this victory, many opportunities.”
“First of all, to rescue the hostages. Of course we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks,” he said, according to a statement issued by his office.
Israeli advocates for the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, known as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, said his statement prioritizing the hostages was a first.
“The families of the hostages welcome the fact that after 20 months, the return of the hostages has finally been designated as the top priority by the prime minister,” they said.
“This is a very important statement that must translate into a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza,” their statement said. Of the 50 hostages, only 20 are believed to be alive.
Trump said on Saturday that Netanyahu was “right now” negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and officials on both sides have voiced scepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon.
The U.S. has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and a release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages once a permanent ceasefire was in place.
On Sunday, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza before intensified fighting against Hamas.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group’s outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.
Israel says it can only end the war if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 captives back to Gaza in their attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Chris Reese)
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