DLNews World at War:

Netanyahu on NBC "Meet The Press" this morning

Will rescue finally come?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there “could be” a possible deal to release some of the 239 hostages believed to be held by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. However, the Prime Minister pointed out the sensitivity of the negotiations and declined to provide further details.

“I think the less I say about it, the more I increase the chances of it happening,” Netanyahu told NBC News on Sunday.

Netanyahu also told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Israel had offered to supply fuel to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which urgently needs it, but the offer was rejected.

A possible deal will by no means be easy. A Palestinian official told Reuters that Hamas had suspended hostage negotiations with Israel due to IDF activity near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

However, Netanyahu reiterated his stance that military pressure on Hamas increases the chances of releasing hostages - a position that contradicts American allies' calls for humanitarian pauses to facilitate their release.

“We heard that a deal of one kind or another was coming, and then we found out it was all nonsense. But the moment we started the ground operation, that started to change,” Netanyahu told the American broadcaster.

For more than a week, Israel has secured daily humanitarian corridors to allow Palestinians to evacuate over a distance of several kilometers from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip. Today, the Arabic-speaking spokesman for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) announced a humanitarian pause in fighting for several hours in the Jabaliya district of Gaza City.

“Military pressure,” Netanyahu continues, “is the only thing that could lead to a deal, and if a deal is available, we will talk about it when it is there. We will announce it when it is available.”

On the question of whether Israel knows where hostages are currently being held, the Prime Minister says: “We know a lot, but I won’t go beyond that.”