Netanyahu hints new negotiations under way to recover Gaza hostages
By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Ibrahim Abu Mustafa and Dan Williams
CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to confirm on Saturday that new negotiations were under way to recover hostages held by Hamas, after a source said Israel's intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar, a country mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a televised press conference a day after Israeli forces mistakenly killed three of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas, Netanyahu called the conflict an existential war that must be fought until victory, despite pressure and costs, and said Gaza would be demilitarized and under Israeli security control.
He said Israel's offensive in Gaza had helped clinch a partial hostage-release deal in November and vowed to maintain intense military pressure on Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza and that he has vowed to destroy.
«The instruction I am giving the negotiating team is predicated on this pressure, without which we have nothing,» he said.
Netanyahu spoke after the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, and attention turned to a possible new Gaza truce and a prisoner and hostage deal.
Netanyahu sidestepped a question about the meeting, but confirmed he had given instructions to the negotiating team.
«We have serious criticisms of Qatar… but right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,» he said, alluding to the gas-rich Gulf state's ties to Hamas and Israel's arch-foe Iran.
A Hamas statement, said the group «affirms its position not to open any negotiations to exchange prisoners
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