Israel’s opposition leader says ‘a hostage deal is on the table’

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has accused the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of thwarting diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza war.

“There is a hostage deal on the table. It can be done, it must be done,” Lapid said at a parliamentary group meeting of the centre-right Yesh Atid (Future Party), which he leads, in Tel Aviv, the Times of Israel reported.

Lapid was referring to the efforts of international mediators to bring about an agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip in indirect talks on the release of the hostages and a permanent ceasefire.

Amid Israeli plans to capture Gaza City, mediators Egypt, the US and Qatar have recently intensified their efforts for a negotiated solution.

Lapid went on to say that senior officials from these states had contacted him. According to him, they had expressed their incomprehension about the fact that they had received no response from Israel to their latest proposals.

“They said to me: ‘We don’t understand. We still haven’t received any answer. Not a positive one, not even a negative one. Israel simply isn’t responding,'” Lapid was quoted as saying.

According to Lapid, Hamas has told the mediators that it is open to both a comprehensive and a partial agreement.

Israel estimates that 48 hostages are still being held by Hamas, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Most of the living hostages are believed to be in Hamas tunnels in Gaza City.

Their relatives, but also the army leadership, fear that the planned offensive will put their lives at risk.