SCM Staff Writer I Sunday, October 05, 2025
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today issued a firm declaration effectively freezing the implementation of the U.S. 20-point peace plan for Gaza until a fundamental condition is met: the immediate release of all Israeli hostages.
In a concise statement that puts the onus squarely on Hamas, the Prime Minister insisted that the return of all captives, both living and deceased, is the absolute prerequisite for any further progress on the American proposal.
“We will not move to implementing any of the US plan’s provisions as long as we do not finalize the implementation of item I, namely the release of all living and dead detainees,” Netanyahu stated.
The reference to “Item I” is understood to be the critical, first-phase demand of the peace proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump just days earlier. The proposal, which aims to end the nearly two-year war, is structured around a phased exchange and withdrawal.
The US plan, unveiled on September 29, 2025, calls for an immediate ceasefire and the return of all Israeli hostages within 72 hours of Israel’s public acceptance of the deal.
In exchange for the hostages—believed to number around 48 remaining, including approximately 20 thought to be alive—Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners and halt its offensive operations.
Netanyahu’s statement reinforces the consistent public position of the Israeli government that the war’s end must be predicated on the safe return of the hostages taken during the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023.
By insisting on the full implementation of this first step before discussing future provisions—such as the phased IDF withdrawal or the establishment of a transitional technocratic government in Gaza—the Prime Minister signals that the humanitarian and national imperative of hostage recovery overrides all other elements of the deal.
The statement comes at a sensitive time, as Israel prepares to send a delegation to indirect talks in Egypt, mediated by Cairo and Washington, to finalize the technical details of the first phase of the plan.
Hamas has indicated its willingness to accept some elements of the US proposal, which has been hailed internationally as the most serious push for peace in months.
However, significant gaps remain, most notably over Hamas’s eventual disarmament and the precise terms of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu has also repeatedly stressed that, regardless of a negotiated political agreement, “Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized—either the easy way or the hard way, but it will be achieved.”
His latest statement on “Item I” ensures that the emotional and security demands of the Israeli public—namely the return of all citizens and soldiers—will dictate the pace of the complex, multi-stage negotiations.
The Prime Minister is under intense domestic pressure from the families of the hostages, who have demanded he prioritize a deal, as well as from hardline members of his coalition who oppose any long-term arrangement that does not include the complete military destruction of Hamas and permanent Israeli security control over the enclave.
