(7 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerusalem – 7 January 2025
1. Wide of press briefing
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eden Bar Tal, director general of Israeli Foreign Ministry:
"Israel is fully committed and doing its utmost to conclude the deal for a very, very long time. The only reason that the hostages are still held in horrific conditions is Hamas. Hamas is the only reason and the only obstacle to the release of hostages, including children, babies, men, women that held for 450 days in captivity. It’s not normal, we should not accept any of that. And the only way to overcome this obstacle and conclude a deal is to put the pressure on Hamas."
3. Wide of press briefing
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eden Bar Tal, director general of Israeli Foreign Ministry:
"The only way to overcome that is to address the few countries that enjoy special relationship with Hamas, acting as mediators involved in the process. They should be now contributing their pressure on Hamas in order to conclude the deal now. The keys to conclusion of this deal is in the hands of those who have leverage on Hamas. And that should be the addresses for the international community to address those countries, and asking them to act now."
5. Bar Tal walking away
STORYLINE:
A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday that Israel was doing its "utmost" to secure a ceasefire deal in the war in Gaza that would free hostages held there.
Eden Bar Tal, director general of the ministry, blamed Hamas for being an obstacle to progress and said pressure was needed to convince it to agree to a deal.
"Hamas is the only reason and the only obstacle to the release of hostages, including children, babies, men, women that (have been) held for 450 days in captivity. It’s not normal, we should not accept any of that," he said.
His remarks came as Israel and Hamas are considering a deal and appear to be making progress on sticking points.
Both Israel and Hamas are under pressure from outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump to reach a deal before the Jan. 20 inauguration.
But the sides have come close before, only to have talks collapse over various disagreements.
The latest round of negotiations has bogged down over the names of hostages to be released in a first phase, according to Israeli, Egyptian and Hamas officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing ongoing negotiations.
Israel wants assurances that the hostages are alive, while Hamas says that after months of heavy fighting, it isn’t sure who is alive or dead.
During its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, Hamas and other groups killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages into Gaza.
A truce in November 2023 freed more than 100 hostages, while others have been rescued or their remains have been recovered over the past year.
Israel says about 100 hostages remain in Gaza — at least a third of whom it believes were killed during the Oct. 7 attack or died in captivity.
Since the war began, over 45,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how many of the dead were militants.
AP video shot by Moshe Edri
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