The families of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip sent an urgent appeal to US President-elect Donald Trump, describing him as a “last resort” to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal that will return their relatives detained in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media quoted Yehuda Cohen, the father of captured soldier Nimrod Cohen, as saying in his letter to Trump, “Netanyahu is trying to deceive you. You may be the last hope to pressure him. Do not accept a partial deal because it will be tantamount to a death sentence for the rest of the hostages.”
For his part, former head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Division, Amos Yadlin, said that the war in the Gaza Strip must be stopped in exchange for a deal that returns the detainees, according to what was reported by Army Radio.
Demonstrations and accusations
Yesterday, Saturday, demonstrations took place in Tel Aviv and a number of Israeli cities, demanding an exchange deal for prisoners and detainees with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and participants raised slogans criticizing the Prime Minister and accusing him of working to thwart the negotiations.
Haaretz newspaper said that a number of representatives in the Knesset participated in the demonstrations, and leaders in the Israeli opposition accused Netanyahu’s government of sacrificing detainees and soldiers in Gaza and not wanting to end the war.
In a conference they organized in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters, the families of detainees in Gaza also accused Netanyahu and his government of obstructing the completion of the exchange deal for “political considerations.”
The opposition and the families of the detainees accuse Netanyahu of obstructing reaching an agreement to maintain his position and government, as extremist ministers – including the Ministers of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – threaten to withdraw from the government and topple it if he accepts a complete end to the war on Gaza.
More than once, negotiations on the prisoner exchange deal, which is being conducted with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation, faltered as a result of Netanyahu’s insistence on “continuing control over the Philadelphia border axis between Gaza and Egypt and the Rafah crossing in Gaza, and preventing the return of Palestinian faction fighters to northern Gaza by inspecting the returnees through the Netzarim axis.” In the middle of the sector.
For its part, Hamas insists on a complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip and a complete cessation of the war in order to accept any agreement.
Tel Aviv holds more than 10,300 Palestinians in its prisons, while it is estimated that there are 100 Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced the killing of dozens of detainees in random Israeli raids.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 153,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded – most of them children and women – and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.