Reuters quoted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant as saying that he discussed with American officials the day after the war in Gaza, while Israeli media reported his support for the American proposal regarding the exchange deal.
Reuters said that Gallant made clear – during his visit to Washington, which lasted several days and concluded yesterday, Wednesday – that the American proposal includes the Palestinians, regional partners, and the United States of America, adding that the process will be long.
Israeli Channel 13 quoted Gallant as saying that Israel supports the prisoner exchange deal announced by US President Joe Biden, which he presented in a speech at the end of last May.
Gallant called on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to accept the deal, or bear the consequences, as he put it.
Gallant said that the goals and objectives of the war are shared between Israel and the United States, and that when a dispute occurs, it is resolved in closed rooms.
For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted Gallant as confirming that progress had been made with Washington regarding supplying Israel with the weapons it needs.
It is noteworthy that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to retract his rejection of Biden’s proposal and that he would only agree to a partial prisoner exchange deal, following harsh messages from the White House, according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
But the newspaper’s correspondent, Itamar Eichender, said that Netanyahu’s statement – last Monday in the Knesset – accepting Biden’s proposal does not constitute a radical change in Netanyahu’s declared positions.
On June 11, the resistance factions submitted their response to the proposal presented by Biden to the mediators, including amendments related to the ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia axis, expressing their readiness to cooperate.
However, Washington said that some amendments “can be worked on, and some are not acceptable to Israel”, accusing Hamas of obstructing reaching an agreement, although Israel did not express its public approval of the proposal at the time.
The Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators confirm that work is still underway to reach a deal that leads to a ceasefire.
