Netanyahu to meet Israeli negotiating team before Washington trip: Media

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with the Israeli negotiating team on Sunday before his trip to Washington, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported on Sunday.

"Efforts are underway in Israel to finalize the response to the hostage deal with Hamas today (Sunday),” it said without providing further details.

On Saturday evening, several demonstrations took place in Israel with the participation of the families of hostages to pressure Netanyahu to agree to the deal before his departure to Washington.

Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon and address Congress on Wednesday during the visit to Washington, which will mark the premier's first since the formation of his current government in December 2022, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

Families of hostages and a significant portion of the Israeli public blame Netanyahu for not reaching a deal to bring back the hostages.

For months, efforts by the US, Qatar and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a hostage exchange and cease-fire have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of a demand to halt hostilities by Hamas.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,700 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi