NewsA new hostage deal in Gaza? "A promising signs of progress"

A new hostage deal in Gaza? "A promising signs of progress"

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 20: Posters of the Hamas hostages are posted on a wall at "Hostages Square" outside the HaKirya base, which serves as IDF headquarters, where family members and supporters made an encampment to demand their return on February 20, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hamas members on October 7 attacked Israeli towns around the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1200 people, including women and children, and kidnapping more than 200 others. One hundred and thirty hostages remain in captivity, according to published reports. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

Images source: © GETTY | Roy Rochlin

2:44 PM EST, February 21, 2024

According to Reuters Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz says "promising early signs" on new hostage deal.

Gantz: We will not stop looking for a way

On Wednesday, Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, noted "promising early signs of progress" regarding a new agreement to free hostages from Gaza, amid regional discussions aimed at achieving a ceasefire in the conflict.

- There are ongoing attempts to promote a new hostage deal and there are promising early signs of possible progress (...) We will not stop looking for a way and we will not miss any opportunity to bring our girls and boys home" - Gantz said in a televised press briefing.

Gantz added that if no new deal were struck, the Israeli military would keep fighting in Gaza even into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month. - "If a new hostage deal is not achieved, we will continue operating also during Ramadan," he argued.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Hamas took more than 200 hostages from Israel. Israel claim that 50 of the remaining 130 hostages abducted on Oct. 7 could be dead.

U.N vote on Gaza cease-fire

Mehanwile, U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution on Gaza cease-fire, hostage releases. In a U.N. Security Council vote on Tuesday, the United States blocked a resolution, backed by Arab nations, demanding an instant halt to hostilities in Gaza and the liberation of all hostages. Instead, the United States has proposed its own resolution, advocating for a six-week suspension of combat, termed a "temporary ceasefire," along with a gradual release of hostages - reports The Washington Post.

Source: Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post