JERUSALEM

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen expects that a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip could be reached within two weeks.

“In two weeks, we should be able to outline the main points of the hostage deal while maintaining the crucial security principles for Israel,” Cohen told Israeli Channel 12 on Sunday.

“The military pressure being applied by the army in Gaza is very important to push Hamas to accept the deal,” he added.

Early Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed Tel Aviv’s negotiating team to travel to Qatar on Thursday to continue talks for a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap with Hamas.

The move comes as Netanyahu is set to fly to Washington early Monday for talks with US officials, including President Joe Biden.

Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying for months to secure a cease-fire and the release of 120 remaining hostages in Gaza.

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 Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala