Israeli hostage families put pressure on Netanyahu for Gaza deal during Washington visit

The families of Israeli captives held in Gaza are ramping up pressure on the Israeli government during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, in a bid to see a long-stalled ceasefire deal reached with Hamas.

Eight family members of hostages with dual US-Israeli nationality, and one former US-Israeli hostage, spoke at a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday where they asked lawmakers to pressure Netanyahu to accept a deal.

Following a meeting with Netanyahu earlier on Monday, Daniel Neutra, brother of hostage Omer, accused the PM of not being serious about securing a release of the hostages, 116 of whom are thought to still be in Gaza.

"I have to say that the urgency of the matter did not seem to resonate with him," he told the committee, adding that Netanyahu "did not answer when we asked him why he is only sending his negotiators to keep the process going on Thursday, instead of days ago."

Jonathan Dekel-Chien, father of US-Israeli hostage Sagui, told the committee that "any true friend of Israel today must pressure our prime minister to finish the deal now".

During a meeting with hostage family members the day prior to the congressional hearing, which also included freed hostage Noa Argamani, Netanyahu reaffirmed his commitment to see the release of the hostages.

He told attendees that "the conditions to get them back are ripening for the simple reason that we are applying very, very strong pressure, very strong, on Hamas."

He also noted that his persistence in invading Gaza's southern city of Rafah, which displaced most of the 1.1 million Palestinians seeking shelter there at the time, was paying off and that as a result "we see signs of major cracks in Hamas, which will yield a better deal."

The meeting saw Noa Argamani break down in tears after telling Netanyahu that she thought she wouldn't make it out of Gaza alive after hearing Netanyahu say the war would be long.

"The hardest moment I had in captivity was when I listened to the radio and heard you say the war will be long," she was quoted as saying by the Times of Israel, adding: "I thought, 'I won’t get out of here.' It was a breaking point for me."

She also recounted seeing the deaths of fellow hostages Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky next to her and pleaded that the remaining hostages must be returned "before it is too late."

Although she did not say how they were killed, Hamas claims that the two were killed by an Israeli strike. The claim has been denied by the Israeli military.

The talks with Netanyahu, and hearing in Congress, come amid renewed focus on negotiations, with an Israeli delegation set to arrive in Cairo to continue negotiations on Tuesday.

According to the Times of Israel, Israel's position of retaining a military presence on the Egyptian border in Gaza's Philadelphi Corridor is being considered by Egypt.

The position, which Netanyahu's government says is "non-negotiable" contravenes the Camp David Treaty signed by Israel and Egypt and has spurred discussion aroundsmuggling between Gaza and Egypt.

Both Egyptian and Israeli negotiators are scheduled to travel to Doha, Qatar, to negotiate a deal that would see the implementation of the first phase of a multi-stage ceasefire and negotiations.

Israel's war on Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 2023, has killed 39,145 Palestinians and wounded a further 90,000, leaving much of the enclave in rubble and causing a humanitarian catastrophe.