Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated to lawmakers that an agreement on the war on Gaza may be imminent.

“I would cautiously say that some progress has been made, and we will not stop working until we return them all to their homeland,” Netanyahu said in parliament on Monday, referring to Israeli prisoners held in Gaza since October 2023.

He told the Knesset that he did not know how long it would take and that he could not reveal the details, but that his administration was taking serious measures to return the prisoners.

Talks about a possible ceasefire agreement It has gotten hotter in recent days Israel and Hamas also held indirect talks in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also said progress had been made after a meeting on Saturday in Cairo.

They said that the possibility of reaching an agreement has become closer than ever, after Hamas said in a statement that reaching an agreement would be possible if Israel stopped imposing new conditions.

There have been several rounds of negotiations since the war began following the attack on Israel by Hamas and others on October 7, 2023, during which about 250 people were transferred to the Gaza Strip and more than 1,100 people were killed.

It is believed that 96 of the prisoners remain in the besieged Strip, including the bodies of 34 people whose deaths were confirmed by the Israeli army.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a week-long truce in late November, and four others were released before that, but no negotiations since then have yielded results as the Israeli military continues to release them. It intensified its attacks on Gaza.

At least 45,317 Palestinians have been killed and 107,713 others injured at the hands of the Israeli army since the beginning of the war. Dozens more were killed in raids across the enclave On a daily basis.

Israeli forces have continued to impose a tight siege on northern Gaza for more than 80 days, where hundreds of people have been killed by bombs and shelling, and only 12 humanitarian aid trucks have been allowed to enter since the beginning of October.

This also happened at Kamal Adwan Hospital, the largest healthcare facility still partially operational in the north They were attacked daily. Israeli forces blew up remote-controlled vehicles, wounding at least 20 patients and medical staff overnight. Hospital director Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said that the attacks aimed to “kill and forcefully displace hundreds of people” inside the hospital.

Netanyahu praises military achievements

During his speech on Monday, Netanyahu also said that Israel had made “great achievements” militarily on several fronts, and that military pressure had forced Hamas to ease its previous demands.

The Palestinian movement confirmed that it wants the Israeli army to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip, including from the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor, which was established to separate the northern and southern parts of Gaza.

Hamas also demanded an increase in humanitarian aid to the population suffering from hunger, and an attempt to reconstruct the Strip.

But Israel has signaled its intention to rebuild illegal settlements in Gaza, with a government coalition and far-right lawmakers last week formalizing legislation allowing the free presence and movement of Israeli civilians in the Strip.

The attack on northern Gaza has been widely described as an attempt to “ethnically cleanse” Palestinians from their lands.

The Israeli parliament on Tuesday added $9 billion to the country’s 2024 budget, with the vast majority of the money going to defense spending.

Rami Khoury, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu is “moving to a position where he has to accept the deal soon.”

He said that sticking to his military strategy “did not bring him the political gains he needed for his Israeli audience.”

He added that the Israeli government has been unable to develop a political strategy commensurate with its remarkable prowess in the military field, which depends on the support of the United States.

“It is unbelievable that with the full power of the United States and Israel and some help from the United Kingdom, Germany and others, Hamas did not surrender,” he said.

He added: “The Israelis are moving to the point where they can accept Hamas’ basic requirements politically, and in return they are getting what they want, which is permanent security guarantees from the United States, with some arrangements that may extend to the Arab region.” He said.

The Israeli prime minister has been repeatedly accused of sabotaging several previous ceasefire talks in Gaza, including by imposing sudden new conditions and intensifying military attacks.

The families of prisoners detained in Gaza, who organize weekly protests in Israel, also accused him of prioritizing his political survival and alliance with far-right lawmakers over the prisoners.