Israeli foreign minister confirms hostage deal progress during meeting with Lammy
Gideon Sa’ar meets with David Lammy in Jerusalem
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar has confirmed there has been significant progress in talks to agree to a Gaza hostage deal after meeting with David Lammy.
He met with UK foreign secretary in Jerusalem on Sunday, where the pair discussed Iran, Syria and Lebanon, as well as efforts to retrieve Israeli hostages from Gaza.
Later a statement released by Sa’ar’s office said he had told Lammy:“Israel is interested in a hostage deal and is working to achieve it. We will soon know whether Hamas is interested.”
Lammy also invited Sa’ar to pay an official visit to the UK in the near future, according to Sa’ar’s office.
In his talks with Lammy Sa’ar also the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, according to the statement. Lammy also met with Mandy Damari, the mother of Gaza hostage Emily, at a hotel in Jerusalem.
Sources say the UK foreign minister said it was a critical time in negotiations to free the hostages, and that he is hopeful but cautious over progress.
Reports in the Arab media have suggested a “breakthrough” in ceasefire talks in Qatar.
On Monday the Israeli foreign minister again issued a statement confirming “progress” on the talks.
He said “American friends” where “making a huge effort” to push for a deal, but he was wary of saying too much as the families of hostages should not be misled.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president, Joe Biden also spoke on Sunday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Israel’s war on Gaza.
The White House said Biden discussed the “fundamentally changed regional circumstances” following Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the rapid rebel offensive that toppled former president Bashar al-Assad in Syria last month, and the dilution of Iran’s power in the region.
Netanyahu was reported to have updated Biden on instructions he had given to senior negotiators in Doha “in order to advance the release of the hostages”.
Western intelligence services estimate that at least one-third of the remaining 95 or so Israeli captives in Gaza have been killed. About 250 people were taken hostage in the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed.
Lammy’s meeting with his Israeli counterpart followed claims of tensions between Israel and the UK as a result of Keir Starmer’s stance on the Netanyahu government.
Netanyahu has sent his most senior negotiators—including Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) head Ronen Bar, Mossad Director David Barnea and Maj. Gen (res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s point man for retrieving the hostages—to Doha, indicating that the discussions are approaching a critical point.
Among the hurdles that blocked previous rounds of talks were Hamas’s insistence on an IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a precondition to releasing the hostages and its demand for the release of terrorists in Israeli prisons that Israel is not prepared to set free.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned Hamas to release the hostages before he enters office on Jan. 20, promising that there will be “hell to pay” if this does not happen.
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