Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer has privately told mediating countries that Israel has not ruled out a partial hostage agreement with Hamas, even though public statements from Jerusalem have insisted otherwise, Channel 13 reported.
Dermer’s message to mediators cautioned them against taking Israel’s official rhetoric at face value, suggesting that despite repeated declarations about only pursuing a comprehensive deal, the possibility of a phased agreement remains. It was not clear from the report whether he conveyed this to the US, Egypt, or Qatar.
According to the report, Dermer’s comments gave mediators some optimism that negotiations could resume. Qatar, which has been a key broker, was disappointed when Israel announced it would only consider a comprehensive agreement after Hamas had already accepted a proposal modeled on one advanced months earlier by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
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That plan envisioned a two-month truce in which about half of the remaining hostages would be released, followed by talks on a permanent ceasefire and the release of the rest. While mediators expected Witkoff’s backing, he later told Fox News that Washington opposed staged deals.
Qatar’s spokesman Majed al-Ansari, speaking to The Times of Israel from Doha, refrained from directly criticizing the US but said that shifting terms repeatedly “only makes it impossible to reach a deal.”
Inside Israel, divisions persist. At Sunday’s security cabinet meeting, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly argued that Israel should act on an existing framework. Some accounts attributed the same position to Mossad Director David Barnea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, blocked discussion of any deal, saying it was not on the agenda. Media reports indicated that Netanyahu cited pressure from President Donald Trump, who opposed partial arrangements such as Hamas’s proposal to release 10 of the 20 surviving hostages during a 60-day ceasefire.
The cabinet instead turned its attention to the next phase of military operations in Gaza, with plans to integrate hostage affairs teams into the anticipated Gaza City campaign.