Netanyahu refuses to disclose the full text of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, and his office only published the text of the government decision, in order to refrain from withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor and from implementing the second and third stages of the agreement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to disclose the full text of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, exploiting what were described as "pledges" from the two American presidents, Joe Biden, whose term has expired, and Donald Trump, whose term began yesterday, according to Israeli media today, Tuesday.

Biden conveyed two pledges to Israel regarding the prisoner exchange, and Trump approved them, according to Israel's Channel 12. The first pledge stipulates that there will not be an automatic transition to the second stage of the prisoner exchange. According to the second pledge, if Israel decides that negotiations on the second stage do not lead to the results Israel wants, resuming the war will not be considered a breach of the agreement.

The channel added that in this case, Israel will be able to claim that Hamas did not agree to "certain matters," and therefore the withdrawal from the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) axis will not be implemented. The agreement stipulates that the Israeli army will withdraw from the axis gradually between the 42nd and 50th days of the agreement, which went into effect the day before yesterday, Sunday.

Israel claims that the withdrawal from the Philadelphi is not legally binding, and that "the final withdrawal on the 50th day will not happen, because in Israel's view this (the clause in the agreement) was the way to get Hamas down from the tree," and that talk of withdrawal is "empty talk," according to the channel.

In the same context, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office refuses to disclose the full text of the agreement, and only publishes the text of the government's decision to ratify the agreement, which included details of some of the understandings in the full text, while the text of the government's decision does not include details about the humanitarian aid that will enter the Gaza Strip or Israel's commitment to withdraw from the Philadelphi axis on the 50th day of the ceasefire, according to Haaretz.

The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying that the ministers had reviewed the full text of the agreement before it was approved during the meetings of the political-security cabinet and the government last Friday, but not all ministers had reviewed the full documents in the agreement.

The newspaper noted that Netanyahu's office had refused its request to obtain a copy of the full agreement or to inspect it. It reported that the Israeli government had approved the previous ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the same manner, in November 2023.

The text of the government decision on the current agreement was titled "Plan for the Release of Kidnapped Israelis", and mainly includes details of the dates for the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners in the first stage. Regarding the second and third stages of the agreement, the text of the government decision states that "the two sides will begin indirect negotiations in accordance with Appendix B", and the newspaper suggested that this appendix is the original full agreement kept in the government secretariat.

After the agreement was approved, a petition was filed with the Supreme Court, demanding that the government disclose the full text of the agreement to the public and inform the families of the Israeli prisoners of its details. In contrast, the government claims that the main reason for not disclosing the full text is a “security consideration.”

The petitioners say that the fact that the agreement was signed “even indirectly, in exchange for the enemy, Hamas,” and that Hamas knows its full details, makes it unreasonable for the agreement to include information that would harm state security if published.

Legal expert Professor Barak Madina, one of the petitioners, said that “the prime minister’s tendency to conceal the details of the agreement with Hamas and refrain from approving the entire agreement in the government raises suspicions that it is not based on considerations of state security, but rather an attempt to evade implementation of the second stage of the agreement, in which 64 kidnapped individuals are supposed to be released” along with thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

Source: arab48