Netanyahu explained during an interview with CNN, “Time will decide, but Hamas's strange demands make the deal more difficult, but we will continue trying because we want the hostages back.”
He stated that the agreement being worked on stipulates the release of 100 hostages in exchange for stopping the fighting for a period of 6 weeks.
Regarding the demands to hold early elections in Israel, Netanyahu said, “Whether or not to hold elections in Israel is a decision the government makes on its own.”
He considered it “inappropriate to try to replace the elected leadership,” saying that “if we hold elections now before achieving victory in the war, we will have at least 6 months of national paralysis.”
He stated that “the decision is up to the Israelis, and he decides to hold elections after the end of the war.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered on Sunday that US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's comments in which he urged holding elections in Israel were completely inappropriate.
Schumer, the highest-ranking American Jewish official and a prominent supporter of Israel, called on Tel Aviv to hold new elections, saying that Netanyahu had “lost his way.”
Biden expressed his support for what he called Schumer's “good speech.”
The United States also expressed concerns about the planned Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians live, and supported a new round of talks aimed at ensuring a ceasefire in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages.
The Israeli delegation is not expected to leave for those talks in Qatar until after the security cabinet and war council meetings on Sunday evening, which will give them directions for the negotiations.
Despite the talks, Netanyahu made clear on Sunday that he has no plans to back down from the fighting that has already claimed the lives of more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
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