High hopes for temporary truce, captive swap but Netanyahu keeps up with warmongering

Hopes have mounted that Palestine's Hamas resistance group could release dozens of captives from war-torn besieged Gaza and Israel would free hundreds of Palestinian women and minors after the Israeli premier said a truce deal was the "right decision" and the resistance group's leader and key mediator Qatar said an agreement was in sight.

Tuesday's announcements are the most optimistic yet of a potential breakthrough in Israel's war on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his cabinet that accepting a deal for the release of captives was "a difficult decision, but it's a right decision".

Netanyahu, who again vowed to "destroy" Hamas, said US President Joe Biden had helped to "improve the framework being laid out before you... to include more hostages at a lower price". "The entire security establishment fully supports it."

"We are at war, we will continue to be at war, we will continue to be at war until we reach all our goals. We will destroy Hamas, we will return all our abductees and the missing and we will ensure that in Gaza, there won’t be any party that poses a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said.

He added that any pause will allow Israel's military to "re-prepare" for Gaza's invasion that has killed more than 14,100 Palestinians, including nearly 6,000 children and close to 4,000 women and left about two-thirds of its 2.3 million people homeless in the tiny densely populated enclave.

The captives families have demanded that Israel should insist on the return of all those being held, and the Religious Zionist party, which is part of Netanyahu's coalition government, has voiced opposition to the deal, denouncing it as "bad" for Israel's security, for the captives and soldiers.

Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that the tentative agreement would include a five-day truce, comprised of a complete ceasefire on the ground and an end to Israeli air operations over Gaza, except in the north, where they would only halt for six hours daily.

Israeli media reported Hamas would free 50 Israeli captives, including some foreigners, while Israel would release 150 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors, during the ceasefire.

Hamas has to date released only four captives: US citizens Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17, on October 20, citing "humanitarian reasons," and Israeli women Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, on October 23.

The armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad announced late on Tuesday the death of one of the Israeli hostages it has held since October 7.

"We previously expressed our willingness to release her for humanitarian reasons, but the enemy was stalling and this led to her death," Al Quds Brigades said on its Telegram channel.

Hamas is believed to be holding more than 200 captives but it has said some of them were killed in indiscriminate Israeli strikes on homes, schools, religious places and shopping centres.

'Very optimistic'

The agreement needs the backing of Israel's war cabinet, security cabinet and cabinet. The first two meetings have been held, but the results have not yet been made public.

Hopes of a release deal have been mounting since Qatar on Sunday said only "minor" practical issues remained.

Ahead of the meetings, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had said: "We are close to reaching a deal on a truce".

In Qatar, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said: "We're very optimistic, very hopeful" and told reporters: "We are at the closest point we ever had been in reaching an agreement."

Biden, who does not support a full ceasefire, said a temporary truce was "now very close".

"We could bring some of these hostages home very soon," he said. "But I don't want to get into the details of things because nothing is done until it's done."