After the U.S. and Israel pulled the plug on the ceasefire negotiations with Hamas on July 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said July 25 that his government was considering “alternative options,” throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty, reported AP. “Together with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,” he said. He did not elaborate on what those options are, but he didn’t have to. His ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir have made it clear that their idea of “lasting peace for Israel” means expelling or exterminating the Palestinian population of Gaza.
Despite that reality, Hamas official Bassem Naim said July 25 that the group was told that the Israeli delegation returned home for consultations and would return early next week to resume ceasefire negotiations. Hamas said that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s remarks were meant to pressure the group for Netanyahu’s benefit during the next round of talks and that in recent days negotiations had made progress. Naim said several gaps had been nearly solved, such as the agenda of the ceasefire, guarantees to continue negotiating to reach a permanent agreement and how humanitarian aid would be delivered.
