7/19/2025–|Last update: 12:34 (Mecca time)
Israeli media dealt with increasing indicators on the proximity of an exchange agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but it linked the timing of the completion of the deal to the end of the summer session of the Knesset, amid widespread internal criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach -required by the International Criminal Court -in negotiations, and warnings of the escalation of field challenges facing the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with the Israeli Channel 13, the former media advisor to Netanyahu confirmed that the prime minister will not conclude any deal before the thirty -first of July, that is, until the end of the summer parliamentary session, due to fears of the withdrawal of his partners in the coalition, especially the Minister of Finance in Salail Smotrich and National Security Minister Intar Bin Ghafir.
The correspondent of political affairs on the 14th channel, Tamir Morag, described what is going on in Doha as not amounting to negotiations in the recognized sense, saying that the matter is similar to “one -sided bid”, as Israel, according to it, made great concessions that include withdrawal from areas of strategic importance that was controlled during the war after bloody battles and at an exorbitant human cost.
Morag added that Netanyahu shows an unprecedented rush towards completing the deal, even if it is necessary to make widespread concessions that are corresponding to a solid from the other side, stressing that Hamas periodically receives maps that include new steps to reduce the Israeli military presence in the sector, in an indication of the increasing distance between the positions of both parties.
Wide optimism
In turn, the diplomatic affairs correspondent on the 24th channel, Amiha Stein, pointed to a wide optimism that prevails in the mediators participating in the negotiations, especially after Israel handed over a map related to the restoration of its forces within 60 days of the start of the ceasefire, and includes a full withdrawal from the Morag axis separating the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, and to relieve the military presence in other areas in the southern Gaza Strip.
Stein explained that these developments are from the perspective of brokers “an important breakthrough”, but it does not mean that the agreement is imminent, as there is still a need for several days of intense negotiations to resolve the contentious points, pointing to a limited flexibility that appeared in some security issues.
As for the correspondent of political affairs in the 12th channel Yaron Abarham, he revealed that the brokers were presented for the first time in weeks, details related to the exchange of prisoners and detainees, without revealing accurate numbers so far, but he warned that the names of the recipes of the Palestinian prisoners who will be included in the agreement may explode a political debate within the government and the mini ministerial council.
Abraham saw that the current atmosphere suggests that negotiations are going through crucial moments, although the signing of the agreement still needs other days, which means that the matter is not a matter of hours, day or two days, as some imagine.
Field reality
In the field context, the news anchor in Channel 12 announced the injury of two soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade, in addition to the injury of a third officer in moderate injuries, during clashes in the Gaza Strip, which reflects the continuation of the attrition of the Israeli army on multiple fronts inside the Strip.
For his part, the 12th channel correspondent Nitzan Shbair spoke about the challenges faced by soldiers on the ground, noting that Palestinian fighters show increasing audacity, and use tunnels or hideouts for sudden appearances, shooting or missiles, as recently happened in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City using anti -armor missiles and light weapons.
Shbubara quoted field soldiers in areas such as Beit Hanoun and Khan Yunis as saying that the confrontations have become more spacious, and that Palestinian fighters are fighting directly and unfamiliar clashes on the northern and southern fronts of the Strip.
In a remarkable comment, the reserve presenter Etai Magri, Deputy Commander of the armored brigade, described the field reality in Gaza as a “other world” underground, saying that the Palestinian fighters move and fight through a network of tunnels at two or three levels, which makes the process of destroying this world a “systematic and slow” process, unlike the battles taking place over the surface of the earth.
Over the course of 21 months of the war of extermination on Gaza, several rounds of indirect negotiations were held between Israel and Hamas, regarding the cessation of the war and the exchange of prisoners, by its leaders, Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
During this period, two ceasefire agreements were reached, the first in November 2023, and the second in January 2025, where they witnessed partial agreements to exchange numbers of prisoners, before Israel dismissed the last agreement, and its war on Gaza was resumed on March 18.
