The Israeli "War Council" discusses the deal today

Israeli sources: Procrastination in concluding a deal soon exposes the hostages to risks

Despite statements by Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the Hamas movement’s conditions for concluding a deal, and emphasizing that Israel cannot accept it, he did not completely close the door on a possible deal, according to what a number of Israeli officials and commentators believe.

Political affairs correspondent for the newspaper "Haaretz" Yonatan Liss said today, Thursday, that Netanyahu has not closed the door on a deal despite his statements regarding the deal proposal that was included in the Hamas movement's response, and his clarification to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the public in general that the submitted proposal does not allow any progress in negotiations.

He stressed that Netanyahu did not announce the cessation of talks or that Israel was abandoning the proposal, nor did he clearly say that he would oppose the release of Palestinian prisoners who carried out operations that led to the killing of Israelis. He merely said that Israel did not commit to that.

The writer pointed out that since Israel received the paper submitted regarding the deal, the members of the government have not met to discuss it, and the “War Council” will only discuss it today, while political sources who spoke to the newspaper considered that Netanyahu’s statements against the deal may contribute to preparing the ground for negotiations in the coming days and weeks.

An Israeli official, who was not named by the newspaper, considered that Hamas had drawn up a paper that Israel could not accept, but which might contain indications that “the movement is ready to conduct negotiations and perhaps also serious negotiations later.”

According to another source, whom the newspaper did not name, the series of statements made by Netanyahu against Hamas’s proposal and the number of prisoners it demands to be released, especially his statements regarding the expected Israeli occupation army operations in Rafah and other refugee camps, “would increase the pressure on the movement in the hope of softening its position.” 

But the same source also indicated that “this is a dangerous adventure,” and that procrastinating in reaching a deal with Hamas in the coming month “will expose the hostages to serious risks, whenever the Israeli army surrounds the hiding places of the movement’s leaders. This may lead to the hostages being killed, injured or to deepen their suffering, until the parties reach understandings."

Adina Moshe, one of the detainees who was released, said in a press conference held by the families of the detainees yesterday, addressing Netanyahu: “I fear that if you continue with this path to eliminate Hamas, there will be no prisoners left for the sake of liberating them.”

“Hamas is not under the pressure we imagine.”

For his part, Michael Milstein, head of Palestinian Studies at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, who spoke today to Hebrew Radio 103, believes that despite talk about Hamas receiving major blows, “in the end this organization provides a very negative response and does not They show any level of flexibility. I think they are not under pressure to the degree that we imagine. They (in Hamas) see a reduction in the Israeli army forces in Gaza and also the beginning of their return to the northern Gaza Strip, and perhaps the reality is not that bad. Today we are talking about the return of delegations from both sides to Cairo to negotiate.

He added: “Hamas indicates, in the wording that I passed a few days ago, that the main goal of the settlement is to end the war once and for all. In contrast to that, we heard the Prime Minister’s response yesterday that this is not something that can be accepted, and it seems that we can find a point in the middle... that remains an end.” The agreement is open.

More serious negotiations

Correspondent and political analyst Barak Ravid wrote on the Hebrew "Wala" website that Israeli officials were surprised by Hamas' response to the proposal and the conditions for releasing Israeli detainees, "which seemed like a list of exaggerated Ramadan gifts" by Hamas.

He added: “Although Netanyahu described it as ridiculous, he did not announce that he completely rejected it.” The writer also considered that American pressure to reach a truce would soon push the parties to indirect negotiations in Cairo regarding the details.

He pointed out that "quite a few senior Israeli officials believe that despite the current high tone, the parties will enter into more serious talks within several days than they are today."

"Netanyahu decided to sacrifice the kidnapped"

On the other hand, journalist Uri Misgav, in an article in Haaretz newspaper today, considered that Israel failed miserably in its attempt to liberate the detainees through a military operation, noting that a number of them were killed during attempts to reach them and release them.

Misgav considered that Netanyahu decided to sacrifice the detainees and that “the decision to sacrifice the kidnapped led to changing the declared goals of the war. Netanyahu stopped repeating the phrase defeating Hamas and returning the kidnapped, and moved on to talk about absolute victory. This goal was formulated vaguely and cannot be measured... with the aim of preventing the achievement of "To reach an agreement and prolong the continuation of the fighting to serve Netanyahu's own interests."

He also considered that the Israeli press leaks about the death of 32 detainees, and the presence of 20 others estimated to be dead, came “in order to reduce the urgency and feeling of necessity of the deal, as the number 84 (the number of living detainees) is much less than 136, and this reduces the price of the deal,” in the writer’s opinion. .