Netanyahu Says Israel ‘On the Brink’ of Hostage Swap and Peace Deal With Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is “on the brink of a great achievement” and that there is a strong chance all hostages held by Hamas will be returned in the “coming days.”

He shared the update in a brief video post on Saturday.

“It’s still not final. We are working hard on it,” Netanyahu said, according to The Times of Israel.

“I hope that, with God’s help, in the coming days, even during the Sukkot holiday, we will be able to announce the return of all the hostages — the living and the slain, in one go, with the IDF still deployed deep in Gaza,” he added.

Netanyahu’s comments come after President Donald Trump celebrated a “very special day” on Friday, in which Hamas signaled it was ready to release the remaining 48 hostages and make a peace deal with Israel.

The president, in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning, warned Hamas to begin releasing hostages “FAST” or “all bets will be off”; he also said he appreciated that Israel had temporarily stopped bombing Gaza as the tentative peace deal moved forward.

Earlier in the week, with Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said Israel had the U.S. Government’s “full backing” to wipe out Hamas if it rejected the latest terms for a peace deal. Trump’s proposal included an immediate release of all remaining hostages and the creation of a new “Board of Peace,” led by Trump and “qualified Palestinians and international experts,” who will temporarily govern Gaza.

Both Trump and Netanyahu’s Saturday comments come nearly two years after Hamas terrorists broke into Israel from Gaza and killed 1,200 people. Many others were raped, and hundreds of hostages were taken back to Gaza. Israel, soon after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, started its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu, in his Saturday remarks, added he has “withstood immense pressure from home and abroad to end the war” over the past two years.