Following the return of the Israeli negotiating delegation from the Egyptian capital with little progress on ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Israeli media revealed on Saturday details of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and security chiefs to discuss the stalled deal.
Channel 12 reported that during the meeting, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Netanyahu, “There will be no ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza under the terms you proposed, and you know that.”
Gallant also informed Netanyahu that there is no security reason preventing the agreement to cease fire in Gaza.
Furthermore, the Israeli channel reported that the Chief of Staff told Netanyahu that it was right to continue Gaza negotiations.
Sources familiar with Channel 12 said that Netanyahu’s positions would not lead to real progress regarding the agreement with Hamas.
Assassination of Haniyeh and Deal Disruption
An Israeli official said that Netanyahu believes that assassinating Haniyeh would expedite the completion of the Gaza deal by increasing pressure on Hamas.
Regarding the call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Netanyahu on Thursday, Channel 12 reported, “Biden accused Netanyahu of lying during their recent call about the Gaza deal.”
The “New York Times” reported that Netanyahu rejected Biden’s claim that assassinating Haniyeh would disrupt reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
The American newspaper also reported that Netanyahu denied in his sharp call with Biden that Tel Aviv was an obstacle to the Gaza deal.
“Strict Call”
Earlier, two American officials revealed that President Biden, during a “strict” call on Thursday, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop escalating tensions in the region and to move immediately towards an agreement on the hostage situation in Gaza, and a ceasefire, according to Axios.
One of them said that Biden complained to Netanyahu that the two had just spoken last week in the Oval Office about securing the hostage deal, but instead, Netanyahu proceeded with the assassination in Tehran.
The American official added that Biden told Netanyahu that the United States would help Israel defeat any Iranian attack, but then he does not expect further escalation from the Israeli side and an immediate move towards the hostage deal.
It is worth noting that the prisoner exchange deal has been pending for a while between Israel and Hamas, amidst pressure on Netanyahu to agree to an exchange deal as soon as possible.
On May 31, U.S. President Joe Biden revealed an Israeli proposal for another truce, but talks since then have failed to achieve results.
