Demonstrations continued in several Israeli cities to demand a prisoner exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and while Israeli media accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz of obstructing the negotiations, Hamas renewed its adherence to its conditions, most notably stopping the war on Gaza.
Hundreds of Israeli women went out in demonstrations in a number of cities in Israel, to demand a deal with Hamas to return detainees in the Gaza Strip.
These demonstrations included the cities of Haifa, Hadera, and Tel Aviv, where the families of the prisoners expressed their intention to continue their protest movement, and urged the completion of the negotiating process to return the kidnapped people to their homes.
In a statement, the families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza also called for demonstrations today, Saturday, to demand a deal that guarantees the return of all prisoners.
The families’ statement indicated that dozens of demonstrations will be held on Saturday in several cities, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, adding that there is no additional time for the kidnapped in Gaza, and warning that winter may lead to their death.
Accusations against Netanyahu
Meanwhile, Israeli Channel 12 said that Netanyahu was the one who forced the negotiating team to try to reach a partial deal, due to threats from his partners in the government coalition.
The channel added that Netanyahu is the one who is preventing a comprehensive deal that returns all Israeli detainees, and that Hamas has never changed its conditions, which are: Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a complete ceasefire, and the release of important Palestinian prisoners.
On Wednesday, officials in the Israeli negotiating team accused Netanyahu and Katz of making statements that harm the prisoner exchange negotiations with Hamas.
Earlier Wednesday, Katz said, during a visit to the Israeli-occupied Philadelphia axis on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, that “security control over Gaza will remain in Israel’s hands, and there will be security spaces, buffer zones, and control sites in the Strip.”
On Friday, Netanyahu told the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal that the war will continue until Hamas is completely eliminated, indicating that “Israel will not accept its presence on its borders.”
The officials stated that if a deal is not reached soon, the army will find it difficult to find new areas for maneuver, and they indicated that the deal has reached its final stages, but the officials’ statements have caused great damage.
In turn, Netanyahu’s office responded, in a statement, to these statements, saying that they were “another false echo of Hamas propaganda from unknown sources in the negotiating team who are acting based on a political agenda.”
The office confirmed that Netanyahu is committed to returning all the kidnapped people to their homeland, and achieving the other goals of the war in Gaza, which include eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future, as Netanyahu has repeatedly announced.
Hamas conditions
On the other hand, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan told Tel Aviv Tribune that the movement proposed an initiative that included a complete ceasefire and a complete exchange of prisoners, but Israel rejected it, accusing Netanyahu of wanting to get rid of the file of Israeli prisoners by killing them.
Hamdan added – in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune – that the Israeli side has rejected three main demands until now: a complete ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and even providing maps for this withdrawal.
He pointed out that the last round of negotiations that took place 3 days ago did not result in any progress, even though the Israeli delegation included representatives of all the security services and Netanyahu’s office.
Hamdan stressed the flexibility shown by the movement in the negotiations, explaining that at the beginning of last July, it agreed to the timetable for the Israeli withdrawal, and accepted the proposed timetable.
Hamas said that the negotiations in Doha, with Qatari and Egyptian mediation, were proceeding seriously.
The movement added, in a statement, that it showed responsibility and flexibility, but the Israeli occupation imposed new issues and conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which postponed reaching the agreement that was available.
Prisoner exchange negotiations conducted with Qatari, Egyptian and American mediation have faltered more than once, 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 searching the returnees through the Netzarim corridor in the middle of the Strip.
Tel Aviv holds more than 10,300 Palestinians in its prisons, and estimates that there are 100 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced the killing of dozens of its prisoners in random Israeli raids.