Is A Hostage Deal Close?

We read in a report on a possible hostage deal from The Jerusalem Post that a deal could be close:

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that the US is "close to getting hostages in Gaza back," while Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that there has been "some movement" from Hamas's side concerning the negotiations, and there is a higher chance of reaching a deal before.

The talks are being held with the usual parties:

In recent days, talks have been held between Israel, Egypt, and the US on bringing the Egyptian proposal closer to the Israeli proposal. These talks were without the involvement of Hamas.

Hamas, for its part hasn’t seen any deal just yet making me think this is just nowhere close to happening:

Hamas has not yet seen the proposal, and there is currently no indication whether it will agree to it, an official with knowledge told the Post.

The US side still says they are working with both sides, though:

Trump said that his administration was "dealing with Israel and Hamas" and that all parties were working on a deal to bring the hostages in Gaza home.

Trump’s statements did get the Israeli leadership to assess things:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situation assessment regarding the hostages with the negotiation team and the heads of Israel's security establishment, his office announced shortly after Trump's statement.

Last month a push to get things moving was started:

In late March, the US delivered a message to Hamas via Qatari intermediaries in an effort to bring about the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza captivity, The Jerusalem Post previously reported, citing Axios.

Ultimately this is nothing more than a desire than a deal:

"There is no deal yet," a US official said, while an Israeli official noted the proposal was "more an idea that isn't fully clear or fully developed."

Unless I hear Hamas say they are surrendering, disarming, and relocating nothing is going to happen. As I reported yesterday Hamas has no intentions of ever releasing all the hostages and Israel will not allow Hamas to exist right next to them again. Keep talking, but these two sides are intractable in their goals.

Gazan Homes Opening Up

We’re told in two separate articles from i24news.tv that there are at least two countries willing to house relocated Gazans while the area is rebuilt. The first article mentions Syria:

Two massive tent cities in northern Syria, near the Turkish border, are being repurposed to resettle hundreds of thousands of Gazans through Turkish and Qatari efforts, Syrian sources told i24NEWS on Thursday.

The two camps, one between Al-Bab and Akhtarin, and the other east of Azaz, were originally built during the Syrian civil war to keep displaced Syrians from entering Turkish territory.

All of this has political ramifications for those hoping to become the permanent government in Syria:

Now that Syria is becoming more stable and many displaced Syrians are beginning to return home, as reported by SANA, Qatar and Turkey are engaged in efforts, in coordination with the new Syrian government, to redesignate the camps for displaced Gazans.

According to one Syrian source, two Turkish organizations, Avaaz and IHH, are overseeing the implementation of the plan. Neither organization has responded to i24NEWS' inquiries regarding this report.

This information comes amid unconfirmed reports that the resettlement of Gazans in these camps is part of a broader agreement reached with the US to recognize the new Syrian administration in exchange for lifting sanctions on Damascus, although the sources could not corroborate this.

The other temporary home could be Indonesia as we read in another article from i24news.tv:

Indonesia is ready to provide temporary shelter for Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza, President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday, estimating that about 1,000 injured will arrive in the first wave.

In this case, Indonesia isn’t fully willing to take in any Gazans, though their language leans that way:

The development came as Prabowo departed for a Middle East tour, set to visit Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan. He said he instructed his foreign minister to discuss evacuating Gazans with Palestinian officials and "parties in the region.

"We are ready to receive wounded victims," he said. said. "We are ready to send planes to transport them... We are ready to accommodate the injured, the hurt, the orphans."

It is the designation of orphans that opens the door for just about any Gazan and this next statement that points to how long they can live in Indonesia:

Prabowo stressed that they would remain in Indonesia, a country with a clear Muslim majority, until they recovered and the situation in Gaza is safe for their return.

So when will it be safe for them to return? I would think when the entire region is demilitarized and them rebuilt which could anywhere from 5 years to 15 years. Initially Indonesia wasn’t open to the idea at all:

Prabowo's remark comes two months after Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said it forcefully rejects any attempt to uproot Palestinians by force, as US President Donald Trump proposed to permanently relocate Palestinians from Gaza.

While we don’t know exactly what changed their minds, adding Indonesia to Syria and you have the makings of possible relocation sites and it may just convince other countries to follow suit.