According to the Saudi channel Al-Hadath, there is an "agreement between Egypt and the US to set a timeline for the commencement of the initial steps towards ending the war," despite the deadlock in talks due to Hamas’s refusal to advance in negotiations.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of bereaved families from the Courage Forum and representatives of families of hostages from the Hope Forum to discuss the details of the ongoing deal.
During the meeting, Netanyahu stated: "Israel will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor or the Nitzarim Corridor under any circumstances, despite the immense pressure to do so. These are strategic assets, both militarily and diplomatically." He further clarified that "military pressure will continue at full force; it is the only thing that causes Hamas to retreat from its unreasonable demands."
Netanyahu addressed the operation to recover the hostages' bodies last night, saying: "The operation last night to recover the hostages' bodies is just one of the operations we are conducting. I cannot detail everything – we are continuously working on these and other operations." He added, "We will not accept a plan that includes ending the war. This is a preliminary condition. Hamas demanded an end to the war as a condition for entering Phase 1 of the deal – and we did not accept this. They also demanded to stop the war during the negotiations for transitioning to Phase 2 – and they did not get that either. We are determined to bring back as many hostages as possible in the first phase of the deal, while also safeguarding essential security interests and maintaining pressure on Hamas to secure the release of all our hostages, both the living and the deceased."