Netanyahu rejects Hamas’ conditions for deal to release hostages and end war as pressure mounts to free remaining captives

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’ conditions for an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the release of hostages held there as he faces increasing public pressure to bring the captives home.

In order to release the remaining hostages, Netanyahu said Hamas was demanding an end to the war, the release of Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. “I work on this around the clock. But to be clear: I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” he said in a statement on Sunday, adding that agreeing to the terms goes against Israel’s security.

“If we agree to this, our soldiers fell in vain. If we agree to this, we will not be able to guarantee the security of our citizens,” the Prime Minister said.

Out of the 253 hostages Israel says Hamas seized on October 7, Israel believes that 132 are still in Gaza, of whom 104 are thought to be alive.

Netanyahu’s rejection of Hamas’ conditions comes after a Wall Street Journal report said that the US, Egypt and Qatar want Israel to join a new phase of talks with Hamas that would start with the release of hostages and lead to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

It also comes amid deepening divisions within Israel’s war cabinet about whether to prioritize bringing hostages home over defeating Hamas, and as thousands protested over the weekend in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu’s handling of the war.

Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas attend a protest calling for their release outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, in Jerusalem on Sunday. – Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot last week suggested that the key war aim of defeating Hamas is unrealistic and called for elections within months. Eisenkot also said the government had failed to achieve what he says should be its highest priority: securing the release of the hostages.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from the Israeli public to secure the release of captives in Gaza.

On Monday, more than a dozen people, including families of the hostages, forced their way into a meeting held by the Israeli parliament’s finance committee. The protesters held placards that read: “You will not sit here while they die there.”

Video of the scene showed security officers trying to remove the protesters amid shouting and jostling.

“It can’t go on like this. You’d better know. It can’t go on like this. You will not sit here while our children die there,” shouted one protester. There were no reports of arrests inside the parliament, known as the Knesset.

Israeli police said that in a separate demonstration dozens of protesters had blocked the entrance to the Knesset, “violating public order.” That protest called for an immediate election, and included some of the families of those killed on October 7.

After some refused to leave, a police officer announced a dispersal order, according to an Israeli police statement.

Netanyahu later told families of the hostages that Israel has an “initiative” to secure the release of those abducted, but there is “no real proposal” from Hamas that would advance their freedom.

“Contrary to what is being said, there is no real proposal from Hamas – this is not true,” Netanyahu told representatives of the families of the hostages, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s office. “I say this as clearly as I can because there are so many untrue things that must be tormenting you.”

“In contrast, there is an initiative of ours, and I will not elaborate,” he added.

A poll released on Monday by CNN’s Israeli affiliate Channel 13 found that 35% of Israelis would support a deal involving the release of all hostages from Gaza in exchange for stopping the war and freeing all Hamas detainees in Israel. Nearly half (46%) said they would oppose such a deal.

A slim majority (53%) said Netanyahu’s personal interests were the main consideration driving his conduct of the war and a third (33%) said the national interest was his main consideration.

It has been more than three months since Israel launched its war against Hamas, which came in response to the group’s brutal October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli soldiers move on armored personnel carriers near the Israeli-Gaza border as smoke rises to the sky in Gaza, seen from southern Israel on Sunday. – Leo Correa/AP

Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza on Sunday surpassed 25,000, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave.

CNN cannot independently verify the figures.

Netanyahu reiterated his rejection of future Palestinian sovereignty over the occupied territories on Saturday after talks with US President Joe Biden about Gaza’s future. The White House has been pushing Israel to recognize the need for the Palestinians to establish an independent state in areas Israel captured in the 1967 war.

“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said in a post Saturday on X.

The Prime Minister’s public rejection of a Palestinian state has placed him at odds with Israel’s staunchest ally, which has long advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Several European foreign ministers have also joined the chorus of criticism directed at Netanyahu over Israel’s opposition to a two-state solution. Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Monday that Israel’s opposition to a two-state solution is “unacceptable” and Israel cannot expect countries to drop the issue.

CNN’s Vasco Cotovio, Niamh Kennedy and Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this report.

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