In their daily discussions of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media channels discussed the pressures exerted by the American administration on Israel regarding concluding an exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance, and the plan proposed by this administration to recognize a Palestinian state.

Israeli Channel 13 revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with CIA Director William Burns to discuss contacts aimed at concluding an exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The channel's correspondent for political affairs, Moria Asref Wallberg, said that Burns arrived in Tel Aviv after Netanyahu refused to send an additional delegation to Cairo, and that one of the main demands he presented during his meeting with Netanyahu and the head of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service (Mossad) David Barnea was for Israel to allow sending an additional delegation. He will represent Cairo in the coming days.

According to a Channel 13 correspondent, a senior political official told Israeli journalists that the “maximum pressure policy” followed by Netanyahu, that is, “intense military pressure and strong pressure in negotiations are the only way to push Hamas to give up its ridiculous demands, and this will lead to the release of the kidnapped.”

On the other hand, the Israeli channel Kan 11 confirmed that the administration of US President Joe Biden is “studying several options to recognize a Palestinian state,” and the channel’s political affairs correspondent, Amichai Stein, spoke about “an additional option that the US administration is studying, which is granting state status in the United Nations,” and said this requires the Americans not to use their veto power if this idea reaches the UN Security Council.

He pointed out that it is the American veto that has so far prevented the possibility of the Palestinians obtaining the status of a member state in the United Nations.

For its part, Channel 14 discussed the American initiative and described it as ambitious, anticipating its launch “in the coming weeks during a temporary cessation of fighting between Hamas and Israel that will be reached within the framework of the exchange deal.”

On Israeli Channel 13, Moshe Raz, a former member of the Knesset from the left-wing Meretz party, praised the American initiative, arguing that it confirms the American administration’s support for Israel more than its support for the Netanyahu government, and commented, “There is no other way, and that is what was proven last October 7.” “It is that whoever relies solely on military force may be subjected to a severe blow.”

He added, "If we continue to rely on military force, the next massacre is a matter of time," stressing, "The Netanyahu government is leading us to the next massacre."

Source: Al Jazeera