An Israeli report stated that the settlement proposed by the American side to Israel and the Hamas movement, within the framework of indirect negotiations taking place through mediators in Doha, stipulates the release of 700 Palestinian prisoners in the first phase of the possible agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a prisoner exchange deal. Accordingly, about 40 Israeli detainees in the besieged Gaza Strip will be released, while a Palestinian source familiar with the progress of the negotiations in Doha indicated that “the scene at the negotiating table has worsened.”

Israeli Channel 13 reported that in light of the large gap between what Hamas is demanding and what Israel is offering in the framework of the negotiations, Washington proposed a settlement that stipulates the release of 700 Palestinian prisoners in the first phase of the exchange deal, including 100 with high convictions, in exchange for the release of about 40 Israeli detainees, including women, the sick and the elderly.

The report pointed out that the framework of the agreement that had been reached during American-Israeli-Qatari-Egyptian talks held in the French capital, Paris, last February, stipulated a truce lasting for 6 weeks in a first phase that included the release of about 400 prisoners in exchange for 40 Israeli detainee in Gaza (10 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli prisoner).

The report indicated that the Hamas movement did not respond to the American “settlement” proposal, while Israeli media reported last night that Israel expressed its approval of the American offer, noting that there are a number of controversial issues in the negotiations, including: the return of the displaced to the northern Strip, the identity of the prisoners who will be included in the exchange deal, the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and Israel’s guarantees for an end to the war and a permanent ceasefire.

In this context, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed newspaper, quoting a source in the Palestinian resistance that it said was “informed about the progress of the Doha negotiations,” indicated that “the scene at the negotiating table has become tense,” while the source stressed that “the resistance is adhering to its position of refusing to back down from the main principles that I specified it earlier.”

The source revealed that “the state of Arab and international silence regarding what is happening in the areas of northern and central Gaza and the Al-Shifa Complex and its surroundings, in terms of violations and massacres,” prompted the Israeli side to harden the positions it expressed and presented to the negotiating table, adding that “the leaders of the Israeli negotiating delegation, Mossad chief David When Barnea and Nitzan Allon returned to Doha, they presented proposals that included a retreat from the perceptions they had previously pushed and which the resistance rejected.

He stressed that "the Israeli negotiating delegation presented during the Doha Round a condition within the proposed first phase of the truce estimated at six weeks, which is that Hamas release two bodies that Israel says belong to Officer Hadar Goldin and soldier Aaron Shaul, and that they belong to the 2014 war, in the event that Hamas insists on releasing the prisoners who Israel re-arrested the editors of the 'Loyalty of the Free' deal, under which soldier Gilad Shalit was released."

The source said, “The Israeli government and its agencies tried, during the past few days, by several means, to find out the results of the strike it carried out in Gaza to target the prominent leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Marwan Issa,” noting that the talks held in Doha during the past days “focused on the details and the rates of exchange.” Hostages and prisoners,” according to informed sources, who confirmed that “the technical teams are still in Doha.”

Earlier today, an Israeli official familiar with the details of the ongoing negotiations in Qatar regarding a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in the war on Gaza said, “Israel has taken a step forward in the negotiations in Qatar by agreeing to the keys to liberate (Palestinian prisoners) more than the Paris proposal in exchange for kidnapped persons” as quoted by Channel 12.

The Israeli official added that the Israeli delegation in the negotiations began discussing the possibility of the population returning to the northern Gaza Strip within the framework of the deal.

The same official stated that the officials in the Israeli delegation who returned to Israel, including the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and the person responsible for the captured soldiers in Gaza, Nitzan Alon, are waiting for Hamas’ response, and will return to Qatar to continue negotiations if “the response will allow progress."