Capture: Netanyahu and Trump discuss the fate of hostages in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington for urgent talks with US President Donald Trump. One of the topics of the meeting was the fate of the hostages remaining in captivity in Gaza. Maxim Kharkin, a native of Donbass, is among them. A video of him was first published by the Hamas movement on April 5, confirming that Maxim may be alive. The leaders also discussed the 17 percent customs duties imposed by the United States on Israel: the tariff was higher than the base 10% established for most Arab countries.

Maxim Kharkin's condition in captivity

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on April 6 in the evening amid the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip. The issue of the release of the remaining Hamas prisoners is on the agenda of the visit. Among them is Maxim Kharkin, who appeared for the first time since the abduction in a video distributed by the April 5 movement. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the prime minister is trying to convince the American side to increase pressure on the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — in order to persuade Hamas to at least a temporary truce in exchange for the release of some of the living hostages. According to the newspaper's sources, the Jewish state is counting on an interim solution that will allow people to return home without ending the military operation in Gaza.

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Maxim Kharkin, 35, is a native of Donetsk, the son of Russian citizen Tala Kharkina. He has a small child. In addition, Maxim was the main breadwinner for his mother and minor brother. He was not included in the list of hostages being released in the first phase. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously told Izvestia that the authorities of the Jewish state do not have information about Maxim's condition and whether he will be released at the subsequent stages of the deal. Hamas also told Izvestia that Maxim was not included in the first phase because he was allegedly a military man.

On April 5, the Palestinian movement released a video with Maxim Harkin. This was the first confirmation that he might be alive. Before that, Hamas also posted a video with a blurred audio track, but Harkin's family recognized his voice on the recording. At the request of the family, the Israeli media refused to publish the video itself and the details of its contents.

Meanwhile, Harkin's fate is also causing concern in Moscow. After the release in February of Russian citizen Alexander Trufanov, who spent 498 days in captivity, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would continue to seek Maxim Kharkin's return home as soon as possible. The issue of his release remains one of the priorities of Russian diplomacy in the region.

How can the Hamas hostages be freed

According to Haaretz, all the remaining prisoners are being held in an extensive tunnel system under Gaza. According to Israeli estimates, 24 of the 59 hostages are alive, including Harkin. A partial deal with Hamas brokered by Qatar and Egypt may offer a chance to save at least those who are supposed to be still alive.

Meanwhile, after the breakdown of the truce, Israeli troops regained control of 40% of the territory of the Gaza Strip. Mohammed Al-Masri, a Palestinian security expert, told Izvestia that Steve Witkoff, the US president's special envoy for the Middle East, who oversees the negotiations, had put forward a plan to transfer a group of hostages.

However, according to the expert, Hamas stated that this issue should be resolved at a later stage, and refused the offer. Then the mediators intervened in the process and put forward an alternative initiative: to release five living hostages and hand over 11 bodies of prisoners in exchange for the immediate start of the second stage of negotiations.

CNN later reported that Hamas had agreed to a new Egyptian prisoner exchange plan. However, it remains unclear whether this will lead to real progress in the negotiations or whether the parties will reach an impasse again.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Egypt on Monday. In Cairo, he met with Egyptian Leader Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II. At a press conference, Macron said that Hamas should not participate in the governance of Gaza, noting that the movement "no longer poses a threat to Israel." Macron also stressed that he opposes the displacement of populations or the annexation of territories in Gaza and the West Bank.

The United States imposed customs duties on Israel

Netanyahu's journey to Washington is also noteworthy. To avoid the risks of an emergency landing in countries that can comply with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime minister, Netanyahu's plane bypassed the territory of Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands. Instead of a direct route, the flight made a 400 km detour through Croatia, Italy and France.

In addition to the issue of hostages, during the talks with Trump, Netanyahu also discussed the duties imposed by the United States on Israeli exports — a 17% tariff that threatens to seriously affect the economy of the Jewish state. The Israeli leadership was surprised when Donald Trump included it in the list of countries whose exports to the United States are subject to increased duties.

The 17% rate turned out to be significantly higher than the base 10% set by Washington for most Arab countries. This decision became especially painful against the background of the recent statement by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on the abolition of all duties on American goods, a gesture that Israel hoped would protect the country from retaliatory measures.

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Shmuel Abramzon, chief economist at the Ministry of Finance, said that Israel would seek to mitigate them through negotiations with the White House: "We expected such a step, but the scale of the duty turned out to be unexpected. We have working channels of communication with the US administration, and I am sure that during the dialogue we will be able to mitigate the consequences."

The United States is Israel's largest trading partner. In 2024, its exports to America, including diamonds, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and electronics, reached $22 billion. New duties may seriously affect key industries. The Israeli Industrialists' Association warns that exports will incur annual losses of $2.3 billion from tariffs if they remain at 17%, and up to 26,000 people may lose their jobs altogether.

According to Ynet, during a visit to Budapest on April 3, Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had a telephone conversation with Trump, during which new duties were discussed. The American president invited the Israeli prime minister to come to Washington urgently to discuss the nuances. Despite initial plans to return to Israel after a four-day visit to Hungary, Netanyahu decided to fly to the United States.