Netanyahu hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza 'in the coming days'

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza “in the coming days,” as Israel and Hamas prepare for indirect talks in Egypt on Monday on a new U.S. plan to end the war.

In a brief statement late Saturday, Netanyahu said he has sent a delegation to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” adding that “our goal is to contain these negotiations to a time frame of a few days.”

But Netanyahu signaled there would not be a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, something Hamas has long demanded. He said Israel's military will continue to hold territories it controls in Gaza, and that Hamas will be disarmed in the plan's second phase, diplomatically “or through a military path by us.”

The prime minister spoke after Hamas said it has accepted some elements of the U.S. plan. President Donald Trump welcomed the militant group's statement but on Saturday warned that “Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off.”

Trump later said the ceasefire would begin immediately once Hamas confirms the “initial withdrawal line” in Gaza. A map with his social media post appeared to show much of Gaza still open to Israeli forces.

Trump has also ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported a notable easing of Israeli strikes Saturday, though hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed, including women and children.

Israel's army said leaders instructed it to prepare for the U.S. plan's first phase. Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike, said an official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record.

Still, an Israeli strike on Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood killed at least 17 and injured 25 others, said Al-Ahli hospital director Fadel Naim. “The strikes are still ongoing,” Naim said. Israel's military said it struck a Hamas member and “regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.”

Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiyah earlier Saturday said Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians across Gaza City.

Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of Tuesday's second anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked it on Oct. 7, 2023. His proposal has widespread international support. On Friday, Netanyahu's office said Israel was committed to ending the war.

Monday's indirect talks are meant to prepare the way for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinians from Israeli detention, mediator Egypt said.

A senior Egyptian official said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Egypt to head the U.S. negotiating team. The talks also will discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media.

The official also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position toward Gaza's future. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza's second most powerful militant group, said it accepted Hamas’ response after rejecting the plan days earlier.

Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive — within three days. It would give up power and disarm.

In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. It didn't address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing.

Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn't lay down its arms.

Others said that Hamas' position fundamentally remains unchanged. Its rhetoric "simply repackages old demands in softer language," said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

Still, two vocal members of the right-wing bloc of Netanyahu’s coalition, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, criticized the plan’s progress but didn’t threaten to immediately leave the government.

And some speakers at the large weekly rally in Tel Aviv over the war expressed a cautious hope not heard for months.

A group representing some hostages' families said the prospect of seeing loved ones return “has never been closer.” They appealed to Trump to keep pushing “with full force” and warned that “extremists on both sides” will try to sabotage the plan.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across Europe calling for the war's end.

Some Palestinians in Gaza worried that talks will break down again.

“We want practical implementation. We want a truce on the ground,” said Sameer Qudeeh in Khan Younis.

“I hope Hamas ends the war, because we are truly tired,” said Mohammad Shaat in Khan Younis, as anxious people roamed the shattered streets.

On Saturday, Israel's army warned Palestinians against trying to return to Gaza City, calling it a “dangerous combat zone." Two residents said that since the morning, Israeli tanks and troops had not advanced but artillery shells and airstrikes were heard.

“We can still see the quadcopters everywhere,” Mohamed al-Nashar said.

In southern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya field hospital received 10 bodies and over 70 injured after Israeli strikes on Saturday afternoon.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war has topped 67,000. The toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names whose data had been verified.

The Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

People attend a rally calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and urges a ceasefire, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. ahead of the second anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People attend a rally calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and urges a ceasefire, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. ahead of the second anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

This picture taken during a media tour organised by the Israeli army shows a plume of smoke rising above Gaza City during an Israeli strike, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Jack Guez/Pool Photo via AP)

A woman wearing a mask depicting U.S. president Donald Trump attends a rally calling for the release of all hostages held in the Gaza Strip and urges a ceasefire, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. ahead of the second anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Fire and smoke rises following an Israeli army shelling in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army strike, outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners pray over the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli army shelling, during their funeral outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People look at photos of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, in Jerusalem, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. Hebrew sign reads, "don't forget us". (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza carrying their belongings along the coastal road near Wadi Gaza, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army strike, outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza carrying their belongings along the coastal road near Wadi Gaza, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.

Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.

Iran previously closed its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June.

Here is the latest:

“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”

Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.

Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.

Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.

Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.

Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,

Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.

“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.

Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.

Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.

The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.

Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.

A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.

Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.

State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.

“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.

“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.

Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.

A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)