At a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today (Sunday), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel believes around half of the hostages currently held in Gaza are still alive, according to Army Radio sources present at the discussion.
The Prime Minister dodged questions about a possible deal, saying that he was not torpedoing any deal and that there was no deal currently on offer. National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby has also commented that Sinwar did not seem interested in negotiating a deal in good faith, at least since the murder of the six hostages.
Netanyahu addressed the matter of humanitarian aid, which today is largely run or stolen by Hamas. Netanyahu said that an effort was made to have local clans manage distribution, but this failed. He also said that he is against a military government.
Netanyahu did say that one option the government was looking into was the "Eiland Plan" after Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland, a former head of the National Security Council.
According to the plan, the IDF will force all remaining civilians in the northern Gaza Strip - up to the Netzarim corridor - to leave within one week. After this, the entire area will be declared a closed military zone and all terrorists remaining will be hunted down.
