Blinken holds out hope for hostage deal and appeals to Israel's moderate politicians a day after Netanyahu rejected Hamas' ceasefire demands as 'delusional' instead vowing to push on with military operations in Gaza

Blinken met with moderate members of Israel's war cabinet Thursday as negotiations for the release of hostages goes on after Netanyahu slammed Hamas' latest offering  

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday discussed ways to secure the release of Gaza hostages with moderates in the Israeli war cabinet a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas demands as ‘delusional.’

Blinken met in Tel Aviv with Benny Gantz and Gabi Eisenkot, two former military chiefs who joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet after the October 7 attack in Israel by Hamas fighters.

The talks will focus on ‘the hostages and the strong desire that we both have to see them returned to their families, the work that’s being done to that end,’ Blinken said as they opened the meeting.

‘The most urgent issue is of course to find ways to bring back the hostages,’ Gantz told Blinken.

‘That being done, many things can be achieved,’ he said.

Earlier, Netanyahu slammed the terrorists’ demands as ‘bizarre’ and said to agree to them would ‘only invite another massacre’ when they are ‘a finger away from a decisive victory’.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot and former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday morning

Blinken with Netanyahu a day earlier, the Israeli prime minister said that the only hope for peace was a ‘total victory’

But in a sign that they were still open to negotiations, he added that his officials ‘haven’t actually committed to anything’ in terms of the specifics of a deal.

Hamas had outlined the most detailed plan yet for an agreement which would see every hostage freed in exchange for 1,500 Palestinian prisoners and an end to the war.

It proposed three 45-day phases of releases, starting with all women, male civilians under 19, the elderly and the sick in exchange for some of the Palestinian prisoners.

The IDF would then have to withdraw from populated areas and cease aerial operations before the male soldiers are released in exchange for other convicts.

Blinken has shuttled around the Middle East on his fifth visit since the war between Israel and Hamas began, and brought to Israel a response via Qatar from Hamas to a hostage deal.

But Blinken said he still saw space for negotiations to improve on the deal and secure the hostages’ release.

Israel has made destroying Hamas’ governing and military abilities one of its wartime objectives, and Hamas’ proposal would effectively leave it in power in Gaza and allow it to rebuild its military capabilities.

Blinken downplayed the posturing, saying it was part of the arduous negotiating process. ‘It’s not flipping a light switch. It’s not yes or no,’ he said.

Blinken has downplayed Netanyahu’s remarks as saying the entire process is ‘not flipping a light switch’

Blinken is trying to advance the cease-fire talks while pushing for a larger postwar settlement in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in return for a ‘clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.’

But the increasingly unpopular Netanyahu is opposed to Palestinian statehood, and his hawkish governing coalition could collapse if he is seen as making too many concessions.

‘While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas’ response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there,’ he said.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas in response and launched air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed at least 27,708 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Militants also seized around 250 hostages on October 7. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, of whom 29 are believed to have died.