The head of the Hamas political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, broke off the ongoing negotiations with the Qatari mediators, and said that he could not continue negotiations as long as the Israeli occupation forces were carrying out their alleged operations in Al-Shifa Hospital, according to what was published by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

This comes at a time when Israeli voices questioning the feasibility of the prisoner exchange deal have increased after its conditions include a reduction in the estimated number of those the resistance will release from 100 to 50 prisoners, a cessation of fighting for 5 days, and the release of Israeli prisoners will be in daily batches.

Reports indicated progress in the ongoing negotiations between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian resistance, with Qatari mediation, in a deal to release a limited number of prisoners held by the resistance factions, but the terms of the deal increased doubts about its feasibility.

The Israeli newspaper says that Israeli political officials realize that the defects of this deal are many, but they tend to approve it in order to present the Israeli people with the image they long for.

The occupation army and the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) believe that approving this deal is wrong, but the failure of the two institutions to confront the October 7 attack makes it easy to question the validity of their opinion. At the same time, Israeli politicians' awareness of the media's position in favor of any prisoner release deal makes things a little easier for them.

“Sinwar manipulates the nerves of the occupation.”

While the Israeli newspaper says that Sinwar is trying to exploit the deal to manipulate the nerves of Israeli society, and this manipulation began with the repeated change of the number of prisoners who will be released. In the beginning, the talk was about 100 prisoners, then the number decreased to 80 prisoners, and the matter reached only 50 prisoners yesterday. This is a significant decline from the number initially announced for negotiation. In addition, the occupation army is supposed to stop the fighting for five days, which is more than enough time for the resistance to rest and reorganize itself. Previous experiences have shown that calming the fighting while the occupation forces are stationed deep in the Gaza Strip does not truly guarantee their security.

Sinwar was not satisfied with that, but rather made a request that was astonishing in its audacity, as described by the newspaper, which was that male and female prisoners be released in daily batches. This means that Hamas can control the number of prisoners it releases daily as it wants, so it releases 10 prisoners today, or stops releasing them if something happens that does not satisfy it, and so on. Meanwhile, Israeli families will go crazy. What is astonishing about this request is that Israel is willing to accept it so far, the newspaper said.

Supporters of the deal claim that there is no alternative to it, and that the right thing to do is to work to release children and women - at least - immediately. As for the opponents of the deal, they claim that the occupation army is in offensive momentum, that the Hamas movement is under pressure, and that Sinwar is the one who wants the deal, so it is not right to stop, but rather the military pressure must be continued to reach a comprehensive deal. But this means leaving Israeli civilian men and women, as well as soldiers, in captivity.

Meanwhile, delaying the deal could tear apart the Israeli people and anger the families of civilian prisoners and soldiers alike. The occupation army is well aware that the soldiers' families are watching every step they take to release their sons. However, this will not prevent decision-makers from marketing any acceptable deal, even partially, as if they had achieved a resounding success.

Source: Arabic Post