Netanyahu told U.S. officials war could end if Hamas leaders go into exile: sources
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in the Capitol for his meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Feb. 6, 2025. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
During his meetings in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a plan for ending the war in Gaza in return for Hamas giving up power and its leaders leaving Gaza, according to two U.S. sources and one Israeli source.
Why it matters: Netanyahu has said he doesn't see a path to a post-war plan for Gaza as long as Hamas is in control. If Hamas relinquishes power and its leaders go into exile, it could open the door for a day-after plan, possibly including President Trump's "Gaza takeover."
- Netanyahu wanted to reach an understanding with Trump and his team about how to move forward with the Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal. As part of that, Netanyahu wants to get to an agreement with the Trump administration about making some changes in the deal.
- Trump's advisers, who inherited the first phase of the deal from the Biden administration, agree with Netanyahu on the need to make some changes, sources said.
- Under the current agreement, 59 hostages would remain in Gaza after the full implementation of the first phase of the deal. Of those, 35 people have already been confirmed dead.
Driving the news: The hostage-release and ceasefire deal was one of the issues Netanyahu discussed with Trump during their meeting on Tuesday.
- An Israeli official with knowledge of the discussion said Trump told Netanyahu his goal was to return all of the hostages home.
- "Trump did not speak in detail about the various stages of the deal, but emphasized that he trusts his envoy Steve Witkoff to secure the release of the remaining hostages," the Israeli official said.
- The Israeli official said Netanyahu emphasized to Trump that he is ready to conduct serious and substantive negotiations on the second phase of the hostage deal.
Behind the scenes: U.S. sources said Netanyahu told U.S. officials during his meetings in Washington this week that he wants to extend the first phase of the deal after the 42-day ceasefire in order to release more hostages beyond the 33 who are included in the first phase as of now.
- In exchange for additional hostages to be released after the 42nd day of the ceasefire, Israel is ready to release more Palestinian prisoners according to a ratio that would be negotiated.
- An Israeli official involved in the negotiations on the release of the hostages said such a move could lead to the release of no more than two or three additional hostages in the extended first phase based on their medical condition.
The U.S. sources said Netanyahu indicated that if the first phase is extended, during the negotiations on the second phase of the deal he intended to present Hamas with a proposal that includes ending the war in Gaza and releasing "senior" Palestinian prisoners that Israel did not agree to release in the first phase of the deal.
- The U.S. sources said Netanyahu is demanding in return that Hamas releases the remaining hostages, relinquish power in the Gaza Strip and that its senior leaders, including those who will be released from prison, go into exile.
- During a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators Thursday on Capitol Hill Netanyahu raised his idea of ending the war in exchange for Hamas giving up power in Gaza and their leadership going into exile, sources with knowledge of the meeting said.
- "Bibi and Israeli leadership have articulated a plan that includes allowing senior Hamas leadership to go into exile in a third-party country," a U.S. source familiar with the issue said.
- Netanyahu's spokesman Omer Dostri initially declined to comment for this story. He later said Netanyahu didn't present a plan for the second phase of the deal.
Senior Israeli officials claim Hamas has already agreed to give up civilian control of Gaza and to transfer responsibility for the reconstruction process to the Palestinian Authority or an independent committee.
- However, Hamas is not willing to give up its military power or dismantle its military wing, one official said.
- The senior Israeli official also assessed that the chances that Hamas senior leaders in Gaza will agree to go into exile are "extremely low," which could lead to the collapse of the hostage-release and ceasefire deal and to the war beginning again.
What to watch: White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet on Thursday in Miami with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani to discuss the second phase of the hostage deal following Witkoff's meetings with Netanyahu in Washington.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information.
