The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted sources familiar with the negotiations aimed at concluding an exchange deal between Israel and the Hamas movement, saying that this deal cannot be concluded without an Israeli pledge to stop the war in Gaza, which contradicts the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The authority explained that the mediators are pressuring Israel and Hamas to resume talks in a more serious manner, adding that Egypt and Qatar are trying to pressure the two sides to hold additional talks to reach an agreement.
For its part, the newspaper “Israel Hayom” quoted Mossad chief David Barnea as saying that returning the detainees is a supreme value and that this is his duty that he will work to perform.
Israeli Channel 12 explained that Netanyahu said last week in one of the closed sessions devoted to discussing the deal for detainees in Gaza, that if a deal is reached, Israel will return to fighting after it, and there is no sense in obfuscating or hiding this issue because returning to fighting aims to complete the goals of the war, and this It does not obstruct the deal, but rather encourages its completion.
Netanyahu added that Hamas is still demanding international guarantees for the continuation of the deal after the first phase.
The Israeli channel quoted American officials to the families of Israeli detainees: “We still believe that it is possible to reach an agreement even before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and we still see real progress, and the issues that are still in dispute are related to the number of hostages and their identity.”
Discussions continue
On Saturday, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani discussed with a delegation from the Hamas movement headed by Khalil Al-Hayya the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip and ways to push them forward, according to what the Qatari Foreign Ministry reported.
More than once, the prisoner exchange negotiations conducted with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation faltered as a result of 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 the Netzarim corridor in the middle of the Strip.
For its part, 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 estimates that there are 100 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced the killing of dozens of its prisoners in random Israeli raids.
