- Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire and hostage-release talks, with progress reported by US Secretary Marco Rubio
- Hamas agreed to release 10 hostages for a 60-day ceasefire to pursue a permanent truce
- Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said Hamas will not free all hostages without war guarantees
Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations on Sunday, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying talks are "closer" than they've been in some time. However, Rubio acknowledged that similar optimism has faded in previous rounds.
As part of the latest proposal, Hamas has agreed to release 10 hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire window, during which efforts toward a permanent truce would continue.
But deep divisions remain over what a final agreement would look like. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in an interview with NDTV, stated bluntly, "Hamas will not release all the hostages, which is the only asset they still hold" unless it is guaranteed that the war is finished.
He emphasised that Israel would not stop fighting unless measures are in place to ensure Hamas no longer holds a dominant position in Gaza. "There is still a disagreement about the final terms," Mr Olmert explained, adding that Hamas demands a full end to the war and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel insists on the total elimination of Hamas as a power structure.
He also raised the question of American influence, specifically former US President Donald Trump's ability to sway Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said that there is a big question regarding to what extent Mr Trump can use his "enormous influence" on Mr Netanyahu to "force him" to end the war and bring an agreement that will guarantee no return of hostilities. He added, "Who can understand exactly what President Trump is up for?"
Nonetheless, Mr Olmert added, "Trump has the power and authority to force Netanyahu to abide by his demands, and he should have exercised his political capital over Netanyahu long ago."
Domestically, Mr Olmert described a growing demand within Israel for a resolution.
"The majority of Israelis want the war to end today. They want the hostages to end today. So looking at it from the perspective of President Trump, I think he has got the most support of most of the Israelis to exercise his authority and force the Israeli Prime Minister to abide by his demands."
Highlighting the human toll, Mr Olmert did not hold back, "60,000 Palestinians were killed, and thousands of Palestinian children pay this terrible price for the war which started by Hamas."
He suggested a shift in priorities, "At this point now it is more important to bring back the hostages rather than to continue what appears to be a war without a specific objective that can be achieved."
According to Mr Olmert, Hamas no longer presents a meaningful military threat, "Israel has completely eradicated and destroyed the military capacity of Hamas... it does not pose any significant threat to the state of Israel."
He warned that prolonging the war could prove costlier than necessary and that continuing this military operation is not worth the cost of possibly losing the lives of so many soldiers and the 50 Israeli hostages which are still held by Hamas.
Asked about Mr Trump's idea of turning Gaza into the "French Riviera of the Middle East," Olmert responded firmly, "I'm not in favour of the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza. Gaza is Palestinian, and the Palestinians live in Gaza, and they ought to live in Gaza."
He said the priority should be preventing future control of Gaza by terrorist groups.
Mr Olmert also criticised Mr Netanyahu's political legitimacy, "Although Prime Minister Netanyahu today still holds a technical majority in parliament, its members were elected almost three years ago. It does not reflect the mood and the attitude of the majority of Israelis at this point."
He cited polling trends and said that in all the polls which were run in Israel, more than 60 percent of Israelis say that they do not trust Mr Netanyahu and do not support him.
He reminded, "I think there is a different voice coming from Israel, a voice of compassion, a voice of compromise, a voice of tolerance, and a voice of a desire for ending the hostilities and establishing a basis for political cooperation with the Palestinians for a resolution of the historical conflict. And Netanyahu is certainly not someone that can be part of it. He will have to go down, and he will go down, and I hope he will go down soon."
