Disagreements over a prisoner deal under the terms set by Hamas between Gantz and Eisenkot and between Galant and the army leadership, and Netanyahu is delaying a decision, not only because of pressure from Ben Gvir and Smotrich, but also in anticipation of increasing American pressure following the disintegration of the war cabinet.

A prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, which will be accompanied by a ceasefire, is still being delayed without an agreement on it, and due to disagreements regarding it within the Israeli war cabinet. The debate also continues in Israel over the introduction of diesel fuel into the Gaza Strip to prevent the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Strip, although this situation is currently very disastrous.

Tal Lev Ram, a military analyst in the Maariv newspaper, pointed out today, Sunday, that the Israeli army seeks to have its forces advance towards other parties in Gaza City, at a time when “the army leadership is required to manage the tension between the desire to continue advancing, to the south of Gaza City.” "And progress in negotiations on the release of the kidnapped persons."

He added, "The time that passes is not in Israel's favor and is not compatible with the military achievements (that Israel wants to achieve) against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, especially in Gaza City." The Israeli army believes, according to Lev Ram and other analysts, that it will be able to resume the war after a ceasefire lasting several days in favor of implementing a prisoner exchange deal if it is agreed upon.

For his part, the military analyst in the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth", Yossi Yehoshua, adopted the position of the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galant, and the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevy, who claims that in order to improve the terms of the prisoner exchange deal and increase the number of Israeli prisoners to about 80, instead Of the 50 proposed by Hamas, Israel's offensive in the Strip should be intensified and greater pressure should be placed on the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar. However, Yehoshua admitted that “Sinwar is the one who decides in these negotiations.

Yehoshua added that "Israel would have preferred Egypt to mediate" in the exchange deal, and not Qatar, "but the situation is not like that and the stalemate continues." Israeli officials involved in the negotiations were quoted as saying that “Israel will agree to a ceasefire for several days,” and that they were able to convince the Israeli army to agree to this, but through a larger deal in which 100 Israeli prisoners would be released.

Yehoshua added, "It is not clear what interest Sinwar has in agreeing to a big deal. He plays the cards in his possession excellently." He pointed out that "compared to previous battles, it seems clear that the Israeli soldiers are facing saboteurs who do not retreat quickly," and stated that the leadership of the Israeli army's southern region "has not yet received an order to prepare to fight in the Khan Yunis area."

Regarding the debate in Israel over the introduction of two tanks of diesel fuel daily into the Gaza Strip, Yehoshua pointed out that Israeli officials, “from the Prime Minister, through the Minister of Defense, to the Israeli Army Spokesman, including other ministers, climbed to a tall tree and then retreated, as expected.” They stated that Israel will not allow fuel to enter the Gaza Strip. Failure to bring in fuel means that water pumps and sewage disinfection facilities stop working, and hospitals completely stop working.

Disagreements inside the war cabinet

The military analyst in the newspaper "Haaretz", Amos Harel, considered that "Israel's achievements in the war are still related to three other areas, which are the liberation of the kidnapped, targeting the tunnels and assassinating the Hamas leadership. Here, the picture is still mixed despite the Israeli progress. It is currently difficult to Talking about a military solution to the confrontation, even though Hamas’ military capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip have been greatly damaged.”

He added that disagreements prevail in the Israeli war cabinet over a prisoner exchange deal, represented by two members of the “National Camp” bloc, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, saying that “Israel is obligated to take advantage of the opportunity to rescue those who can be rescued among the prisoners, and immediately, because otherwise there will  " a clear danger to their lives."

On the other hand, Galant, Halevy, and leaders in the Israeli army and Shin Bet claim that “it is forbidden to stop now for a truce and the military pressure on Hamas must be intensified, because only in this way will it be possible to make Sinwar make other concessions.” 

Harel continued, "It is clear to both sides in this dispute that Hamas will do everything in its power to buy time, even if the deal is agreed upon. Sinwar appears to be relying on a comprehensive ceasefire in the fighting, and believes that he can buy time by making promises and pretexts about subsequent deals." ".

Harel pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has not crystallized a final position in this dispute. He is preoccupied with internal political considerations and fears being surrounded by Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich."

He added, "Netanyahu is procrastinating, as usual. The pressures from the right are clear. But for him, there are counter-pressures from the left as well. A continued refusal to reach a deal would be the straw that breaks the back of the flimsy coalition he achieved with Gantz and Eisenkot. And their decision to withdraw from the government" " may very quickly accelerate his collision course with the Biden administration. It is possible that against this background, Netanyahu will agree to soften his position in the end and reach a deal."

Regarding the introduction of fuel into the Gaza Strip, the former head of the Israeli National Security Council, Giora Eiland, said in his weekly article in Yedioth Ahronoth, today, that “Israel is not fighting against a terrorist organization, but rather against the state of Gaza. Hamas has succeeded in obtaining all of its state’s resources, and on the support of most of its residents and on the absolute loyalty of the civil administration to Sinwar’s leadership, and through full support for his ideology. In this concept, Gaza is very similar to Nazi Germany,” noting that Nazi Germany was a strong and rich country and occupied the lands of other countries in Europe, while the Gaza Strip was besieged by Israeli occupation and suffers from extreme poverty and perhaps unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

He continued, "Israel is therefore prohibited from providing the other side with any ability to prolong its breathing." Eiland added, "The 'poor' Gazan women are all mothers, sisters or women of murderers from Hamas. On the one hand, they are part of the network supporting the movement, and on the other hand they will witness a humanitarian catastrophe. It must be assumed that a portion of Hamas fighters and low-level leaders will start by realizing that war is useless and that it is necessary to prevent irreparable damage to the sons and daughters of their families.”

According to Eiland, “The path to a quicker victory in the war and at a lower price for us requires the collapse of systems on the other side and not the killing of more Hamas fighters. We must not be deterred by the international community’s warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and of difficult epidemics. There are difficult epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip.” "It will bring victory closer and reduce the number of dead and wounded among the Israeli soldiers. Sinwar will not surrender, but there is no reason for the leaders of the Hamas brigades in the southern Gaza Strip not to surrender when they have no fuel or water, when epidemics reach them, and when the danger increases to them and to the daughters of their family."

He considered that "the Israeli cabinet is required to show much greater toughness vis-à-vis the Americans, and to at least have the ability to say the following: As long as all the kidnapped people are not returned to Israel, do not talk to us about humanitarian aspects."