By: Fern Sidman

The diplomatic stakes surrounding the Trump administration’s Gaza ceasefire framework reached a decisive juncture this weekend, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will not begin implementing any part of the agreement until Hamas releases all remaining hostages — living and deceased. The development, widely covered by Israel National News (INN) and World Israel News (WIN), places a strong emphasis on  Israel’s determination to spotlight the plight of its abducted citizens at the center of negotiations.

Speaking Sunday to the Heroes Forum, a group representing families of victims of Hamas’s October 7 massacre as well as relatives of fallen IDF soldiers, Netanyahu made clear that Israel’s acceptance of the 21-point Trump plan is conditional.

“We will not proceed to any of the 21 clauses until the first clause — the release of all the hostages, the living and the dead — until the very last hostage, all of them, have crossed into Israeli territory. Only then will we move on to any other clause,” Netanyahu told the gathering, as reported by World Israel News.

The prime minister’s words resonated deeply with bereaved families, many of whom have pressed for a hard line against Hamas. The Heroes Forum, more hawkish than the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, has consistently demanded that hostage release come before concessions. Netanyahu’s remarks signaled alignment with that position, emphasizing that no withdrawal maps, ceasefire clauses, or political arrangements would be implemented until every Israeli abductee is accounted for.

Netanyahu instructed his senior envoy, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, to lead Israel’s negotiating team to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The delegation is expected to depart Monday, with talks facilitated by Egyptian and Qatari mediators under American oversight.

According to the report at Israel National News, the Egyptian resort town has emerged as a central hub for ceasefire diplomacy, with U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian officials pressing both Israel and Hamas to finalize terms. While Israel has signaled conditional acceptance of Trump’s plan, Hamas’s response has been riddled with caveats.

In a report cited by INN, the Al-Arabiya network revealed that Hamas has begun locating the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages across Gaza. A Hamas official told the channel that “we started to collect the Israeli deceased hostages and asked for the strikes to stop in order to do so.”

The official claimed that while the release of living hostages would take place in one stage, the transfer of bodies “will take some time.” The group further alleged that American intermediaries, working through Qatar, had shown “flexibility” on the issue of remains.

World Israel News emphasized that such statements reflect a familiar Hamas tactic: to prolong the process, extract further concessions, and use uncertainty surrounding deceased hostages as leverage. Israeli officials, however, have been adamant that no stages of Trump’s deal will advance until every hostage — dead or alive — is returned.

In a surprising turn, the Hamas official told Al-Arabiya that the group is willing to surrender its weapons to a Palestinian-Egyptian body under international supervision. According to the information provided in the INN report, this proposal comes with a critical caveat: the “fate of the organization’s leaders depends on their decision.”

Analysts cited in the World Israel News report cautioned that such overtures may be tactical, designed to buy time or present Hamas as reasonable to international audiences. Skeptics within Israel’s defense establishment argue that Hamas has no intention of permanently disarming, particularly as the group has historically violated ceasefire terms once military pressure eased.

According to the information contained in the Israel National News report, Hamas has told the United States, through Qatari intermediaries, that it expects guarantees of a permanent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. While the Trump plan envisions phased Israeli pullbacks tied to verifiable disarmament, Hamas continues to insist that sovereignty and governance remain in Palestinian hands.

The divergence illustrates the fragility of the talks. As the Israel National News report observed, “Hamas frames its conditions in ways that blur finality, while Israel insists that only total hostage release can trigger concessions.”

Netanyahu’s insistence on hostages first is not only a moral imperative but also a political necessity. Addressing the Heroes Forum, he emphasized that Israel’s acceptance of Trump’s plan is not a blank check. Instead, it is a framework that will be implemented in phases, contingent on Hamas’s compliance.

“The first clause is the key to everything else,” Netanyahu said, according to the World Israel News report. “Until that clause is fulfilled in full, nothing else begins.”

This approach balances Israel’s diplomatic alignment with the United States and its domestic demand for justice. While Washington and international mediators seek rapid progress, Netanyahu must contend with public outrage, the grief of bereaved families, and the security establishment’s insistence on avoiding premature concessions.

Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced Netanyahu’s stance at a memorial for fallen soldiers of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Katz declared that the IDF’s offensive pressure is what shifted Hamas’s tone.

“The strength of the pressure exerted by Israel and the intensity of the IDF’s maneuver in Gaza City are the reasons for the possible shift in Hamas’s position and in that of the countries that support it, which now fear its collapse,” Katz said, as quoted by World Israel News.

Katz also warned that if Hamas refuses to release the hostages, “the IDF will once again increase the intensity of its fire.” His comments, reported widely in INN, send a clear message: Israel will not reduce its military posture until Hamas fully complies.

President Donald Trump’s peace plan envisions a ceasefire implemented in phases:

Hostage Release and Initial Withdrawal – Hamas would release all hostages while Israel repositions its forces, retaining control over strategic areas.

Disarmament and Demilitarization – Hamas would disarm, either voluntarily or under international enforcement, and Gaza would be demilitarized.

Political Arrangements – Governance of Gaza would transition to a Palestinian-Egyptian authority or a technocratic body, under international supervision.

Israel has publicly accepted this framework, but Netanyahu has placed an immovable condition on phase one: no withdrawals, no diplomatic steps, no prisoner releases until every hostage returns home.

The report at Israel National News described this as “a bold attempt to close the loopholes Hamas thrives upon, ensuring that humanitarian gestures are not exchanged for empty promises.”

Both INN and World Israel News highlighted concerns among Israeli officials that Hamas will attempt to stretch out the timeline, using the search for bodies as a stalling mechanism. With each delay, international pressure mounts on Israel to show restraint, even as bereaved families demand swift resolution.

For Netanyahu, the risk is twofold: appearing too rigid could strain relations with Washington, while appearing too flexible could fracture domestic unity and embolden Hamas.

The fate of 48 remaining hostages — 20 believed alive and 28 deceased — hangs over every negotiation. Families cling to hope for their loved ones, even as military and political leaders grapple with stark realities.

As the World Israel News report noted, the psychological weight of the hostages’ plight has become inseparable from Israel’s broader war aims. For many Israelis, bringing home the abducted is not only a strategic necessity but also a sacred obligation.

As Israel’s delegation prepares to sit down in Sharm El-Sheikh, the contours of Trump’s peace initiative are clear but fragile. Hamas hints at compliance while hedging with conditions; Israel commits in principle but insists on results. Between these positions lies the fate of the hostages, the credibility of U.S. mediation, and the trajectory of the Gaza war.

In the words of Israel National News, “The battlefield and the negotiating table are now bound together. What is won in Gaza City shapes what is conceded in Cairo.”

For Israel, the guiding principle remains unchanged: no maps, no clauses, no concessions — until every hostage, living or dead, has come home.