An Israeli delegation is set to travel to Qatar on Sunday for indirect negotiations with Hamas regarding a potential ceasefire and hostage release, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. However, officials warned that Hamas has proposed changes to the current deal, which Israel deems unacceptable.
The announcement coincides with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s planned visit to Washington for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, where the Gaza conflict and ongoing mediation efforts are expected to be key topics.
On Friday, Hamas issued what was described as a “positive” response to a US- and Israel-supported framework, which envisions the return of approximately half of the living and deceased hostages held in Gaza over a 60-day period, divided into five phases.
A source involved in the mediation said Hamas submitted three amendments to the framework. These include a provision that negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached, full resumption of humanitarian aid through UN and international mechanisms, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions held before the March ceasefire collapsed.
The Prime Minister’s Office acknowledged that it received the proposed changes on Friday night and deemed them unacceptable, but confirmed that a delegation will still travel to Doha on Sunday for further discussions.
As the country waits to find out if a hostage deal will truly materialize, and what shape it will take if it does, the families of the hostages rallied across the country on Saturday night, urging the government to seal a deal for the release of all the hostages at once, in exchange for a permanent end to the war.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement ahead of upcoming rallies, expressing strong criticism of the emerging partial agreement. The forum warned that if the deal goes through, many hostages will remain in Gaza even after the proposed 60-day ceasefire.
“At this crucial moment, we must reject the creation of selective ‘Schindler’s lists,’ as if it were impossible to bring all the hostages home long ago,” the forum declared, referencing the roughly 1,200 Jews saved during the Holocaust by being chosen to work in Oskar Schindler’s factory.
The forum condemned the phased, selective release of hostages, saying it causes “unbearable uncertainty” for their families. They added, “All abductees could have been returned for rehabilitation and burial months ago, had the government prioritized this over political survival.”
Families of hostages have previously likened partial agreements—such as the weeklong truce in November 2023 that resulted in the release of 105 hostages, and the two-month ceasefire in early 2025 which saw 30 hostages freed—to the Nazi practice of “selection.” They compared it to the horrific process in death camps, where some Jews were sent immediately to gas chambers while others were kept alive for forced labor.
