The channel, affiliated with the official broadcasting authority, mentioned that “if progress is not made in the prisoner exchange deal in the coming days, the emergency government will collapse soon.”
The channel also indicated that the ministers in the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot from the “State Camp” coalition, will resign from the emergency government, leading to its collapse if an agreement on a prisoner exchange is not reached soon.
The situation is at an impasse, with Tel Aviv estimating that there are 133 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas has announced the killing of 71 of them in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes. Israel currently detains around 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons.
Most members of the government coalition believe that the negotiations have reached a “deadlock” and that the chances of reaching a deal soon are slim, according to the channel.
It also noted that a meeting of the War Cabinet held on Wednesday also gave the impression that the chance of reaching an agreement is “extremely slim.”
This comes amidst criticism from Gantz of repeated attacks on the United States issued by ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, according to the same channel.
Washington clearly opposes Tel Aviv’s efforts to carry out a wide military operation in the densely populated city of Rafah, south of Gaza, which has angered Netanyahu and his supporters.
Gantz and Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s emergency government after Hamas attacked Israeli settlements on October 7, 2023, although they were not part of the government coalition before that.
The War Cabinet includes Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.
Also participating in the council, as observers, are former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.
“Unsolvable Disputes”
In this context, official Hebrew media spoke on Thursday about “unsolvable disputes” between the Israeli and Hamas delegations in the indirect negotiations for the exchange of prisoners and the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza.
This was reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, citing “informed sources” about the progress of the latest round of negotiations, which began in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, last Tuesday.
The official body stated that “the Israeli delegation left Cairo on Thursday evening and returned to Israel,” quoting the informed sources, who were not named, as saying that “there are unsolvable disputes between the two parties,” without disclosing the nature of these disputes.
According to the authority, the meeting of the Security and Political Cabinet, scheduled for later Thursday evening, will discuss how to proceed after the Israeli delegation left Cairo, with many disagreements between the two parties.
No Agreement
Earlier on Thursday, the private “Cairo News” channel quoted a high-level Egyptian source, who did not mention his name, saying that the Hamas and Israeli delegations left Cairo on Thursday after a two-day negotiating round, without mentioning a new date.
The source also explained that the departure of the two delegations comes in order “to consult in light of some outstanding issues that have not been resolved,” without specifying these points.
He added that “Egyptian efforts and the efforts of mediators continue to reconcile the views of the two parties, especially in light of the recent developments in the Gaza Strip,” referring to the Israeli military escalation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
On May 7, 2024, this round of negotiations began concurrently with the announcement by the Israeli army of “operational control” over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a day after the start of a military operation in Rafah, and warnings to 100,000 Palestinians to “evacuate” the eastern part of the city forcibly.
This came one day after Hamas announced its approval of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange with Israel.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Hamas’ position aims to “prevent our forces from entering Rafah,” far from Tel Aviv’s necessary requirements.
Coinciding with the Israeli delegation’s direction to Cairo last Tuesday, Israeli officials told Hebrew media that “if no progress is made in the talks, Israel will move to the second stage of the operation in Rafah, which will increase pressure on Hamas,” without specifying the nature of this stage.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging war on Gaza, resulting in over 113,000 casualties, mostly children and women, and around 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues the war despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, as well as an International Court of Justice ruling calling for immediate measures to prevent “genocidal acts” and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
