Israeli cabinet to discuss stage two of hostage deal tomorrow evening

The Israeli cabinet is set to meet tomorrow (Monday) at 18:30 to discuss its approach to the second stage of the hostage deal, according to Channel 14.

Channel 12 reported that the cabinet meeting was taking place due to pressure from the Trump administration, especially from Hostages Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who very much want to see the deal advance to the next phase.

The Prime Minister's Office responded that this is "more fake news. Contrary to what was claimed, there was no American pressure from Secretary of State Rubio and Envoy Witkoff to send the delegation for negotiations on Phase 2. The discussion about Phase 2 deals with "the day after," and it will be led by the political echelon."

During the government meeting today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed his meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and how the goals of Israel and the United States are aligned when it comes to Gaza and Iran.

Netanyahu said that "In any case, we are committed together to shared goals. Not just the release of the hostages, eliminating Hamas, and of course ensuring that Gaza does not return to being a threat to Israel, plus the President's plan that says there will be a completely different Gaza. This is what we are committed to, this is what we are working on, in a joint strategy with the President of the United States, in continuous contact that was made just five minutes ago with his people.

"This is very important, it creates for us tremendous hope for a completely different future, for a situation that the State of Israel hasn't been in since its establishment. There weren't such opportunities, there wasn't such a partnership, and there wasn't such potential to both remove threats and truly bring opportunities that we simply didn't dream of. So it's worthwhile to work together, also in full cooperation here, and to ensure that we fulfill all this tremendous promise for the future of the Jewish state and the future of the Jewish people."