A classified assessment delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu indicates Hamas is now willing to consider a partial hostage release deal, but Israel’s leader continues to reject anything short of a full agreement on Israel’s terms.
A new twist has emerged in the fraught negotiations over Israel’s hostages. Channel 12 News revealed Friday that senior professional sources presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a classified document on Thursday, showing that Hamas has shifted its position since talks collapsed three weeks ago.
According to two senior officials who reviewed the document, Hamas now appears open to a “partial deal”—involving a limited hostage release paired with a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
The assessment, compiled and signed off by top Israeli professionals, concludes that the change in Hamas’s stance is significant and difficult for Netanyahu to dismiss. But the Prime Minister has consistently vowed to accept nothing less than a comprehensive deal: the return of all hostages and an end to the war strictly on Israel’s terms.
Sources told Channel 12 that Hamas is prepared to resume talks under the framework advanced by US envoy Steve Witkoff, which includes:
- The release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages
- A 60-day ceasefire
- The release of Palestinian Arab terrorist prisoners
Meanwhile, it was cleared for publication on Thursday that Mossad chief David Barnea secretly traveled to Doha, Qatar, where he met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The meeting was reportedly tied to renewed US, Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish efforts to broker a breakthrough before Israel proceeds with a potential large-scale IDF operation in Gaza.
The Mossad issued a carefully worded response, stressing that Barnea’s visit was for “Mossad-related matters, not hostage deal negotiations,” and that he made clear: “A partial deal is off the table.”
The revelations underscore the high-stakes diplomatic tug-of-war: Hamas signaling flexibility, Israel doubling down, and mediators racing against the clock to avert escalation.
