An Israeli official said, “The possibilities of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas are still high, because the US President, Joe Biden, wants to end the war on Gaza, and realizes that the only way to do so is a deal that leads to a long truce, and with the hope that it will become permanent” What Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, will visit Israel, where he will arrive next Saturday evening, to discuss the details of the prisoner exchange deal and the truce, in addition to the issue of the “next day” after the war and the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper also quoted ministers in the political-security cabinet as saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “seeking a deal,” but he is “very afraid” that the deal will lead to the withdrawal of the parties of extremist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. They added that Netanyahu does not want a government with the opposition leader, Yair Lapid.

After Ben Gvir threatened that he would topple the government if Israel agreed to the deal that was formulated during a meeting in Paris, last Sunday, which brought together the heads of the Mossad, the CIA, Egyptian intelligence, and the Prime Minister of Qatar, Netanyahu announced, “We will not liberate thousands of terrorists, and we will not withdraw the Israeli army from the sector.”

Ben Gvir wrote on the “X” platform that “a defeatist deal = dismantling the government.” According to the newspaper, although Ben Gvir has threatened to withdraw from the government more than once since the beginning of the war on Gaza, he is serious now, and told those close to him, “I mean every word. There is nothing I can do in a government that implements a defeatist deal. In my opinion, the government does not have a mandate to implement a defeatist deal with Hamas.

Those close to Ben Gvir said that he would withdraw from the government even if the deal included the liberation of a quarter or a third of the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be released, and that they believe that Netanyahu is paving the way for the possibility of liberating half the number of prisoners that are being talked about, and that he will consider this an achievement, according to what the newspaper quoted them as saying.

Meanwhile, the parties to the negotiations on the deal are awaiting Hamas’s response to it, after the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, announced yesterday that the deal is being studied. The Hamas delegation visiting Cairo today may present the movement’s response to the proposed deal.

The deal stipulates Israel's release of thousands of prisoners and a truce in the war for a month and a half, in exchange for Hamas releasing a first batch of 35 Israeli hostages. According to the Haaretz newspaper, Netanyahu refuses to pledge to abide by this deal because of the opposition within his government.

The newspaper added that Israel agreed during the negotiators' meeting in Paris that the mediators would transfer their proposal to Hamas. “Israel thus linked itself to a large extent to the mediators’ proposal, even if it did not officially ratify the entire deal.”

The newspaper added that there is “concern” among the extreme right about a long-term ceasefire that will signify the end of the war on Gaza and the continuation of Hamas in power, “at least in the south of the Gaza Strip.” Also, "Netanyahu realizes that the return of a portion of the kidnapped, in exchange for thousands of prisoners, will be interpreted by large parts of the Israeli public as an admission of failure."

The newspaper indicated that Netanyahu is approaching a point where he will have to decide between the position of the extreme right, represented by Ben Gvir and Smotrich, who reject any deal, and accepting the deal. If Netanyahu agrees to the mediators’ proposal, “there is no hope for the government to survive in its current composition.”