negotiation

But after much negotiation, I was given access.

Netanyahu said he hoped negotiations to finalize the deal would be completed soon.

The comments came after Hamas released a statement on Friday in which it agreed to free the hostages under a US peace plan, but did not mention disarmament and sought negotiations on other issues.

On Friday, Hamas agreed to release all the remaining Israeli hostages - living and dead - but said it wanted further negotiations on a number of key points outlined in the US peace plan.

Further negotiations then took place, which were finally settled in 2015 and allowed retained firefighters to claim pensions dating back to 1 July 2000 but no earlier.