Israeli Army Radio quoted sources as saying that it cannot be said that negotiations on the prisoner exchange deal and ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas are frozen, but there are no new developments so far, while an Israeli newspaper reported that the deal is continuing, but there are some gaps.
The sources stated that the army is trying to put military pressure on Hamas to reach a deal, despite the failure of this policy during the past months.
She added that the Mini Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs will hold a session next Thursday to discuss the deal negotiations.
For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted responsible sources as saying that negotiations on the prisoner exchange deal are continuing and some gaps remain, and that the goal of all parties is to reach understandings before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The newspaper reported that there are possibilities for reaching a deal and for the mini-council to be called to meet at any time.
The newspaper quoted sources in the army and Shin Bet that Hamas is still capable of ruling Gaza, and that it may return to power in the absence of an alternative.
Informed security sources told the newspaper, “If Israel does not take decisions regarding Gaza, it will undermine the war’s achievements and will not achieve the goal of toppling Hamas.”
Constant stumbling
More than once, prisoner exchange negotiations conducted with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation faltered as a result of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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 Netzarim Corridor in the besieged Palestinian Strip.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) insists on a complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip and a complete cessation of the war in order to accept any agreement.
Tel Aviv holds more than 10,300 Palestinians in its prisons, while it is estimated that there are 100 Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced the killing of dozens of detainees in random Israeli raids.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has continued – with American support and in full view of the whole world – its aggression against Gaza, which resulted in more than 153,000 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.
