Israeli media reported that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is demanding the release of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti as part of the exchange deal, while the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced progress in the negotiations, without reaching a final agreement.
Israeli media indicated that Barghouti may be exiled to Türkiye, while negotiations continue to try to reach an agreement to exchange prisoners and ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
For its part, Israeli Channel 13 quoted sources that Tel Aviv had finished preparing a list of Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released in the first phase of the exchange deal.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Tel Aviv is demanding that prisoners with high sentences be deported abroad, and not to the West Bank, in order to avoid images of liberation celebrations and reduce the possibility of them returning to practice what Israel describes as “terrorism.”
Regarding the departure of the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, from the Qatari capital, Doha, the broadcasting organization quoted an Israeli official as saying that this does not necessarily mean that communications are stuck, adding that the talks are moving in the right direction.
“Conditions improve”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office informed the families of detainees in the Gaza Strip that the conditions for concluding an exchange deal with the Palestinian factions “have improved,” according to the “Israel Today” newspaper.
This is the first time that Netanyahu’s office has issued a statement talking about “progress” in negotiations since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
The Committee for Managing the File of Prisoners and Missing Persons in Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in which it said that the conditions for concluding a prisoner exchange deal had improved after the efforts made, and that the families had been informed of this.
The statement added, “Israel demands the release of the largest number of living prisoners during the first phase of the agreement, while Hamas rejects this condition.”
He stressed that “Israel’s highest priority is to ensure the return of the largest possible number of living prisoners.”
Last Monday, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that Tel Aviv wants to reach a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas before the end of this December, at a time when it has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip for more than 14 months.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also claimed on the same day that there had been “unprecedented progress” and that this week “will be decisive” in the indirect negotiations on concluding a prisoner exchange deal.
In this context, Netanyahu told the American Wall Street Journal yesterday, Friday, that he would not agree to end the war before “removing” Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip, as he said.
The majority want a deal
On a related level, an opinion poll showed yesterday, Friday, that an absolute majority of Israelis support reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that leads to a prisoner exchange deal.
According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, “74% of Israelis believe that Tel Aviv should now seek to reach a complete agreement for the return of all the kidnapped people, even if it comes at the expense of stopping hostilities in Gaza.”
She added, “This position is supported by 84% of opposition party voters, and 57% of party voters in the current government coalition.”
During recent months, the families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza have escalated their pressure activities on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement.
The opposition and families of Israeli prisoners accuse Netanyahu of obstructing reaching an agreement to maintain his position and government, as extremist ministers, including Ministers of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, threaten to withdraw from the government and topple it if the war ends.
With American support, since October 7, 2023, Israel has been committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, resulting in more than 152,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in One of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.