HOSTAGE DEAL CLOSE? ‘I’m more optimistic than before,’ senior Israeli source tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS – here’s why Arab, US diplomats are also increasingly optimistic
WASHINGTON, DC — “One must be cautious,” a senior Israeli government official in Jerusalem told ALL ISRAEL NEWS today, but “I’m more optimistic now than before.”
Finally, there appears to be real and substantive movement towards a deal that could release several dozen hostages from Gaza, possibly before Christmas.
I’ve been communicating with a range of American, Israeli and Arab diplomatic sources.
They all tell me that while everything could collapse in an instant, they are increasingly hopeful that a deal is, in fact, increasingly likely.
Movement has accelerated since President-elect Donald Trump demanded all the hostages be released by the time he takes office on January 20th, or there will be “all hell to pay.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families this week that "there are reasons for optimism.”
Increasingly optimistic himself, Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration’s national security advisor, was just in Israel and the region to press for a deal.
“My conviction is that because of developments in the region, the moment is ripe,” Sullivan told reporters yesterday.
“It is my job to seize that moment to bring these people home, including American citizens, who have been away from their families for too long.”
In the coming days, Adam Boehler, Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, is expected to arrive in Israel and travel to Arab capitals to push for a deal.
One major reason for optimism among the officials I’m talking to is that Hamas has begun discussing specific names of specific hostages to be released, something that preceded the last hostage exchange in November 2023 but has never happened since.
Right now, it appears that Hamas is prepared to turn over close to three dozen hostages, including women, men over the age of 50, and those who have severe medical problems.
Another reason hope is rising is that Hamas is now discussing the names of specific Palestinian prisoners they want to be released from Israeli jails, something that has also not happened since November 2023.
Still another reason it appears that a deal is close at hand is that Hamas operatives have compromised on several key issues.
While they are insisting on a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, they are no longer demanding that all Israeli military forces leave the Strip and never return.
They have also dropped demands that the IDF specifically evacuate the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian-Gaza border.
Extensive conversations with diplomatic sources here in Washington, as well as back in Israel and throughout the Arab world, indicate that Hamas feels increasingly desperate.
Their top three leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammed Deif, have all been killed by the IDF.
More than 10,000 of their terror fighters have been killed.
Almost all of their rocket forces and military infrastructure in Gaza have been destroyed.
And Hamas has been abandoned by their main allies, and its remaining leadership feels isolated and alone.
After all, Hezbollah’s leaders and missile forces have been so badly destroyed by Israel that they have accepted a ceasefire.
Iran has stopped firing missiles at Israel.
And Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and his regime has been toppled.
All of this has created a desperate dynamic on the ground in Gaza.
Hamas is nearly completely obliterated.
Those who remain appear ready now to strike a deal, giving up some hostages to relieve the IDF’s intense and relentless pressure on them.
I’m told there are scant indications that Hamas is ready to completely surrender, give up all the hostages, and ask to leave Gaza for some other country – possibly Libya or Turkey – though that’s still the hope.
But if Hamas is ready to give up 30 or 40 hostages now without demanding too high a price, then it appears that Netanyahu may be ready as well.
Negotiations are still ongoing.
Nothing is definite yet.
A deal could collapse at any moment.
But let’s pray a good deal is achieved soon – even before Christmas.
It’s been 435 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, slaughtered 1,200 innocent Israelis and foreign workers, took 251 people hostage, and dragged them back into terror tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip.
Today, there are 101 Israelis and Americans still held captive in Gaza and Israeli intelligence believes around 60 are still alive.
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Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
