Former Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said that returning Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip is not a priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is interested in remaining in power.

Ya'alon added - in statements reported by the Maariv newspaper - that there are officials within the Israeli government demanding the sacrifice of detainees in exchange for occupying the Gaza Strip, expelling the Palestinians, and settling Jews there.

He pointed out that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir do not want to reach a final status in which Israel does not control Gaza, stressing the responsibility of the occupation army for killing 100 Palestinians while distributing aid in the northern Gaza Strip.

Regarding what was reported about launching a ground operation in Rafah, Ya’alon considered the threat to enter Rafah to be a hoax, wondering if the government really needed to enter, so why did it not enter? Why were units of reserve soldiers demobilized?

Yaalon also expressed his belief that the right path lies in going to elections, to get Israel out of this crisis with a different leadership, calling on Israelis to take to the streets and protest.

Positions regarding the exchange deal

On the other hand, officials in the Israeli negotiating team accused Netanyahu of wasting time, according to what was reported by Israeli media.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Defense Minister Yoav Galant held an alternative session in order to discuss the prisoner exchange deal, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to hold a session of the mini-ministerial council for security and political affairs.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation revealed that Mossad Director David Barnea participated in the session held by the Minister of Defense regarding the exchange deal.

For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid ruled out the possibility of concluding an easy deal to release Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.

This came during his talk yesterday, Saturday, with the families of the prisoners, indicating what he described as the opposition’s full support for such a deal.

Lapid said that the deal that would return them was worth the price, and that it was not possible to move forward without their return to Israel.

On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said that Israel is willing to pay a price in exchange for the return of detainees in Gaza, but it is not ready to stop the war, describing this as a red line.

Regarding the implementation of a ground operation in Rafah, Katz responded during an interview with the Yedioth Ahronoth website that this will happen because victory in the war cannot be achieved without entering there, as he put it.