TEL
AVIV — On Thursday, Israeli Channel 12 revealed details of a potential exchange
deal between the Islamic Resistance Movement (
Hamas) and Israel. Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the anticipated deal would not come at any
price, emphasizing he had red lines.
اضافة اعلان
The
channel reported that
Mossad chief David Barnea presented a "document of
principles" for the deal to the Israeli War Council. In the first phase,
the release of 35 Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, including women, the
wounded, and the elderly, would be exchanged for a 35-day truce, Al-Ghad
reported.
The
report added that after this period, an additional week might extend the calm
for negotiations on the second phase. This includes the release of youth and
those
Hamas describes as soldiers.
The
channel suggested that the crux of the disagreement on the Israeli side lies
not necessarily in the number of security prisoners (
Palestinian prisoners) to
be released but in their quality. A deal involving the release of numerous
Palestinian prisoners convicted by Israel for attacks resulting in Israeli
deaths would be challenging for the public and politicians to accept.
According
to the channel, the ball is now in Hamas' court, as the mediators conveyed the
main lines of the deal, awaiting their response.
On Tuesday,
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, announced that Hamas
had received the deal proposal within the framework of efforts to stop the
Israeli war on the
Gaza Strip and was studying it.
Regarding
prisoners, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper stated that Hamas insists the next deal
includes three known Palestinian prisoners, with only one being a member of the
movement.
Release of Marwan Barghouti in talks
The newspaper
noted that the list Hamas is expected to present includes prominent figures
capable of changing the face of the Palestinian Authority. Marwan Barghouti, a
Fatah leader, is considered the preferred candidate for heading the Authority
after Mahmoud Abbas.
Ahmed
Saadat, Secretary-General of the Popular Front, is the second name Hamas
insists on, with Israel previously refusing to release him in the 2011 Shalit
deal.
The
third prisoner,
Abdullah Barghouti, a member of Hamas and a leader of the
movement's military wing in the West Bank, is serving an unprecedented 67-life
sentence in Israel. Tel Aviv also rejected his release in the Shalit deal.
On
the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu stated that efforts
to reach a new prisoner exchange deal are ongoing. He stressed that it would
not be done at any price and listed his red lines, including not stopping the
war, not withdrawing army forces from the Gaza Strip, and not releasing
thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu
continued, "We are working to release our kidnapped citizens, eliminate
Hamas, and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat. We are working to achieve
these three goals together, and we will not abandon any of them."
Israeli
Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu informed the families of detainees in Gaza
that he would approve a deal that would not harm Israel's security, even if it
led to the collapse of his government.
Responding
to Netanyahu's position, an Israeli official familiar with the progress of the
negotiations expressed concerns that the Prime Minister might push Hamas to
"blow up the deal."
The
Haaretz newspaper quoted the unnamed official as saying that there are fears
"that the aim of the extremism in Netanyahu’s statements in recent days is
to encourage Hamas to harden its positions and undermine the deal."
He
added, "Such a step may allow Israel to continue fighting while holding
Hamas responsible for the failure of the talks."
Israel
estimates that there are about 136 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while it holds no
fewer than 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official sources
from both parties.
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