On Sunday evening, just before the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu held an unusual meeting to address the ongoing deadlock in negotiations over the release of hostages who have been held in Gaza for a full year.

The Prime Minister’s Office revealed that the meeting included top security officials, the hostages and missing persons coordinator, Gal Hirsch, as well as several government ministers.
During this meeting, security experts shared an intelligence update that Netanyahu had previously discussed, stating that roughly half of the 101 hostages currently in Hamas custody are still alive, although their condition is critical.
“The captors have made their conditions much worse. There are clear instructions for the captors that if they sense danger and that the IDF is approaching, they are to execute the hostages, as happened in Tel Sultan (in Rafah) with the six hostages who were murdered,” officials explained. They also noted that intelligence on the hostages is becoming scarcer as time goes on, which is a major concern.
Sources familiar with the situation disclosed that no discussions regarding the hostages had taken place for an entire month, and Sunday evening’s meeting was the first in a long time. These sources hinted that Netanyahu may have organized the meeting on the eve of the October 7 massacre anniversary “to fulfill an obligation” and to avoid allegations of neglect. According to them, mediators are drifting away from Israel’s position, and Qatar seems to be siding more with Hamas. “The U.S. just wants to avoid escalation and lives in a fantasy that everything can be resolved with Iran, the north, and Gaza by solving everything together,” one mediator remarked.
Other sources also claimed that the argument made by both Israel and the U.S. that they do not know where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is, and therefore cannot negotiate, isn’t entirely accurate. They said that talks could still take place with other senior Hamas figures abroad. “It feels like no one is dealing with this, not even the mediators, and everyone has given up. The impression is that this is no longer a priority and is being overshadowed by the fear of a broader regional war,” another source shared.
Despite this gloomy outlook, Israel has been considering new proposals regarding the deal in recent weeks, and mediators have also been exploring various options with Hamas, but nothing has moved forward. Sinwar has remained unresponsive, and there are even doubts about whether he is alive or simply out of contact for other reasons.
“Negotiations for a deal are at an impasse. There is no progress. Sinwar is entrenched,” a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday evening. “We are waiting for developments from the north, and in the meantime, we are considering what other steps can be taken,” the source added, referencing ongoing military operations in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu himself has expressed the view that a strong strike against Hezbollah could potentially increase pressure on Sinwar to engage in negotiations.
In the meantime, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with the families of hostages in Tel Aviv at Hostage Square, just ahead of the Salon Otef event marking the anniversary of their loved ones’ abductions.
“The families expressed to the minister the deep pain they are experiencing in these difficult days and asked him to remind all Cabinet ministers and the government that the war’s ultimate goal is the return of the 101 hostages,” reported the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. However, Gallant acknowledged that the Cabinet had not discussed the hostage issue for two weeks.
“Additionally, the families voiced serious concerns about the IDF’s renewed operations in the northern Gaza Strip because, tragically, military pressure has previously led to hostages being killed. The Defense Minister emphasized that the presence of hostages in the area is a top priority for the IDF, and the entire security system is fully dedicated to bringing all of them home,” the forum’s report stated.
{Matzav.com Israel}