Yesterday evening (Thursday), the Israeli Mini-Ministerial Council for Political-Security Affairs (the expanded cabinet) approved allowing British observers to visit a number of elite Hamas detainees held in Israeli prisons, contrary to the wishes of National Security Minister Itamar Ben. Gvir [the head of Otzma Yehudit] refused this, and requested that the matter be limited to allowing visits to the kidnapped Israelis detained in the Gaza Strip.

The Expanded Cabinet decided that these visits would be accompanied by an Israeli judge, and that Israel would determine in advance the identity of the observers.

Maariv newspaper learned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the idea of foreign observers, accompanied by an Israeli judge, visiting elite detainees, but Minister Ben Gvir categorically rejected that. Ben Gvir said that this request came to weaken Israel's position in the negotiations. He added that the visits must be reciprocal, meaning that a visit to Hamas prisoners must be matched by a visit to Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip.

Most members of the “Expanded Cabinet” supported Netanyahu’s position, while Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich [head of “Religious Zionism”] opposed it.