Israeli officials warn of collapse of negotiations, Netanyahu responds | News

Israel’s Channel 13 quoted Israeli officials as saying that negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange were on the verge of collapse, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office downplayed the statements.

Israeli officials accused Netanyahu’s government of acting on this issue based on political considerations, the channel reported on Saturday night.

In turn, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the leaders of the security services explained to the political leadership that the decision to keep the army in the Philadelphi (Salah al-Din) axis lacked logic, and they also expressed their support for the prisoner exchange deal.

The channel quoted the Israeli Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, as saying, “We can wait until Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), changes his mind or is eliminated, as the army is working to achieve this, but currently there is no clear time limit to achieve either of these two things.”

Netanyahu’s office responds

Channel 12 returned to quote the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office as saying that statements about the possibility of the collapse of negotiations are not new.

Netanyahu’s office added that Israel is prepared to go “a long way to achieve the deal and return all the kidnapped, living and dead.”

The office told the Israeli channel that Hamas’s condition for ending the war “encouraged officials to pressure the government to give up basic security principles.”

Meanwhile, the families of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza said that Netanyahu was obstructing prisoner exchange negotiations and “will turn the Philadelphi corridor into a graveyard for them.”

Hundreds of Israelis closed the Karkur junction south of Haifa on Saturday night, demanding the downfall of the Israeli government.

In Tel Aviv, demonstrations by the families of the prisoners and their supporters continued, demanding an immediate exchange deal. The demonstrators said that in order for their sons to return, Netanyahu must step down and be replaced by another official in order to save the state, as he put it.

In the same context, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that the government had abandoned “our sons and daughters, who are dying in captivity, and Netanyahu is busy playing tricks,” repeating his accusation that the Israeli prime minister was obstructing ceasefire negotiations and prisoner exchanges.