Benjamin Netanyahu says negotiators will return after week of talks with Hamas, as debates continue about potential prisoner exchange deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that an Israeli negotiation team would return from Qatar after a significant week of negotiations to hold internal consultations on a potential prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
“The negotiating team, which includes senior personnel from the Mossad, the ISA (Israeli Security Agency) and the IDF (military), will return this evening from Qatar to Israel following a week of significant negotiations,” his office said in a statement.
“The team has returned for internal consultations in Israel regarding the continuation of the negotiations for the return our hostages,” it added.
Observers view Netanyahu's announcement as part of a pattern of delays in negotiations. Since the lone cease-fire in late November 2023, Netanyahu has hinted at progress in talks for a prisoner swap and a potential cease-fire, only to later insist on continuing military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Israel is believed to hold more than 10,300 Palestinian prisoners, while approximately 100 Israeli captives are in Gaza. Hamas has said that dozens of the captives were killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Tuesday that “the gap between Israel and Hamas is not significant and allows for reaching an understanding.” It said the two sides had made progress on key areas in southern and central Gaza but provided no further details.
Hamas has repeatedly expressed a readiness for an agreement, even agreeing in May to a US-backed proposal from President Joe Biden. Netanyahu withdrew, however, introducing conditions such as continuing military operations and refusing to withdraw troops from Gaza, while Hamas insists on a complete halt to hostilities and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Criticism of Netanyahu has mounted within Israel. Opposition parties and families of the captives accuse him of stalling a deal to maintain his position and government. Hardline ministers, including Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have threatened to withdraw from the government coalition if Netanyahu agrees to halt the Gaza offensive.
Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,300 people, most of them women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
