AA / Jerusalem / Zein Khalil
Israel’s Channel 13 reported Monday that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to quit the Israeli government in the event of a possible deal with Hamas that would release dozens of Palestinian prisoners convicted of Israeli murder.
The private channel said: “After the Israeli delegation left for Qatar to discuss the plan to release the abductees, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich said in closed-door interviews that if dozens of prisoners are released there will be no blood on our hands in the government.”
The media outlet said the possible deal has broad support, including Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet (General Security Service) chief Ronen Bari and Prisoners and Missing Persons Coordinator Nitzan Allon.
According to the same source, the general framework of the agreement is approved by the absolute majority of the cabinet ministers (Council of the Political and Security Ministry) and the government.
Channel 13 also said: “But it seems that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet made a decision on the matter.”
One minister who attended the Israeli cabinet meeting (who Channel 13 did not name) said that “aside from Ben-Gvir and maybe Smotrich, there is no “I don’t expect there to be any opposition in the cabinet. on the swap deal when it is offered.”
According to Channel 13, there is much friction between Israel and Hamas, as the Palestinian movement demands guarantees for any decisive deal from Russia and Turkey, as well as from Qatar and Egypt, which have acted as mediators in the talks. Israel has so far denied the claim.
In addition, Hamas is demanding the release of all 48 prisoners released as part of the “Shalit Agreement” before re-imprisoning Israel, which has expressed its desire to release only some of the prisoners, but not all. same source.
On Monday night, the Israeli cabinet authorized an Israeli delegation led by the Mossad chief, who arrived in Qatar on Monday evening, to negotiate a new prisoner exchange agreement.
According to official sources on both sides, Tel Aviv estimates that there are approximately 134 Israeli prisoners in Gaza and 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons.
A truce between Hamas and Israel was brokered for a week between November 24 and December 1, 2023, leading to a ceasefire, a prisoner exchange, and very limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas attack on the Jewish state. The Israeli bombardment that followed the Palestinian resistance movement’s operation killed and injured several thousand Palestinians, causing massive destruction and shortages of basic necessities.
For the first time since its creation in 1948, Israel has been accused of genocide before the UN’s highest judicial body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), over its military operations in Gaza. The ICJ’s January ruling ordered Tel Aviv to prevent acts that could be considered genocide and to take measures to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
* Translated from Arabic by Munir Benuri.
Source: AA
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