1/21/2024–|Last updated: 1/21/202409:30 PM (Mecca time)
The White House confirmed that talks on the release of Israeli prisoners held by the resistance in the Gaza Strip constitute a priority for the administration of President Joe Biden, and at the same time denied that an agreement in this regard was close.
Strategic Communications Coordinator at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, confirmed that talks to reach a new agreement to release Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza are still ongoing, but the features of a deal are not yet on the horizon.
Kirby added in an interview with the American network NBC that the American coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, visited the Qatari capital, Doha, last week for this goal.
In the same context, the American website Axios reported that US envoy McGurk will visit Cairo and Doha this week to advance negotiations on the release of prisoners.
The website quoted unnamed sources that the Biden administration is convinced that reaching a deal regarding the prisoners will lead to stopping the war on the Gaza Strip.
In this regard, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his categorical rejection of the conditions of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for a prisoner exchange deal.
Regarding what was published by the Wall Street Journal about the existence of a proposal for a prisoner exchange deal, which includes Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said that he categorically rejects the proposal because it amounts to demanding Israel to surrender, considering continued military pressure the only way to recover the Israeli hostages.
For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that he supports any agreement, no matter how painful, as he described it, that ultimately leads to the release of prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
Lapid added in statements reported by Israeli Army Radio that he confirmed in the Knesset and to Netanyahu personally his support for such an agreement, even if its price was a ceasefire.
Lapid believed that removing the hostages from Gaza was a first step to eliminating the Hamas movement, as he put it.
Israeli cities are witnessing many demonstrations and sit-ins demanding the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal and the return of their relatives in Gaza.
