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Some members of Israel’s coalition have ruled out a proposed hostage deal with Hamas, but the prime minister has yet to state his position.
Aug. 19, 2025Updated 10:54 a.m. ET
Far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition denounced a proposed cease-fire deal with Hamas that would see the release of some of the remaining hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas said on Monday it had agreed to the terms of a deal presented by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. But a flurry of statements from hard-liners in Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition illustrated the pressure he was under over the latest proposal, which would force him to forgo his stated plan to send the Israeli military into Gaza City, at least in the near term.
“Going for a partial deal is a moral folly and a difficult strategic error,” Moshe Saadeh, a lawmaker in Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party, told Israel’s Channel 14 on Tuesday. “In the end, it will strengthen Hamas,” he added.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have referred to the latest proposal as a “partial deal” because it postpones addressing key disputes between Israel and Hamas. It neither ensures the release of all the hostages nor the end of the war, though theoretically it could tackle them in a second stage.
Hamas has said it is willing to release all the hostages on the condition that Israel ends the war. But Hamas has not publicly accepted Mr. Netanyahu’s conditions for doing so, which include the group’s disarmament.
The gulf between Hamas and Israel’s position, analysts say, suggests that a partial deal is more realistic than a comprehensive one.
