10/21/2024–|Last updated: 10/21/202402:11 PM (Mecca time)
Yedioth Ahronoth said that there was an understanding among the ministers who participated in the mini-security council meeting yesterday, Sunday, that Qatar had become the main mediator to reach an exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli newspaper reported that during the meeting, the ministers expressed their enthusiasm for the possibility of reaching a ceasefire agreement and an exchange deal in Gaza.
She also indicated that during the meeting, the ministers listened to the opinions of the negotiating team regarding the feasibility of reaching a deal after the assassination of the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Yahya Sinwar.
Hamas position
Israeli Channel 12 said that Qatar is expected to have a “larger and more important role” – in the coming period – in reaching an exchange deal that ends the ongoing aggression against Gaza for the second year in a row.
The channel reported that the security authorities informed the ministers – during the cabinet meeting – that the Hamas movement would not change its position on the exchange deal after the assassination of Sinwar.
She said that Hamas has been insisting on its position since US President Joe Biden’s speech on May 31, and that the political level is deliberating other ways to find room for maneuver.
On the other hand, Haaretz newspaper quoted an official in the negotiating team as telling the families of the prisoners that Hamas’ positions in the negotiations “have not softened and may harden further.”
The official added – in his conversation with the families of the prisoners – that Hamas did not disintegrate after Sinwar’s departure and continues to work and that its situation is stable.
Flexibility in negotiations
The Israeli official also pointed out the need for there to be “flexibility” in Israel’s position in order to resume negotiations, “without which there will be no progress.”
He also stressed the need for the army to withdraw from the Philadelphia axis in order to give a better chance for the success of the negotiations.
It is noteworthy that the rounds of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been faltering for more than 11 months, as a result of Netanyahu’s insistence on continuing the war on the besieged Gaza Strip, and his adherence to the Philadelphia and Netzarim axes in the south and center of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas demands a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the return of the displaced without restrictions.
Despite Israeli obstacles, Egypt’s mediation continues alongside Qatar and the United States to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and conclude a prisoner exchange between the two parties.
