The Israel Broadcasting Authority said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting this evening with ministers and the negotiating team tasked with reaching a prisoner exchange deal with the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, to discuss opportunities to relaunch negotiations on the exchange agreement.
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation said there was progress in the exchange negotiations, but that it did not constitute a breakthrough, and that the issue of ending the war remained the main obstacle to the negotiations.
Israeli media said that estimates in Israel indicate that the number of living prisoners is less than half of the prisoners and that the Israeli military confirms that the time is very appropriate to take advantage of the achievements it has obtained and conclude a exchange agreement.
The sources added that the representative of the prisoners in the army informed the political leaders that estimates indicate that the condition of the abductees is deteriorating and that they are dying of starvation, and that some of them are at risk of death .
For its part, Israel’s Channel 12 said security services had warned the government that dismantling Hamas would lead to the collapse of a regime capable of releasing prisoners.
While Axios cited sources saying the Israeli envoy would travel to the United States to speak with US President Joe Biden’s administration and Trump advisers on issues including the Gaza war and the deal exchange, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US administration is working effectively with key parties in the region to achieve a ceasefire and release prisoners in Gaza.
Sullivan stressed that reaching an agreement has become more likely now due to the isolation suffered by the Hamas movement and Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the battle.
Israel estimates there are 101 prisoners held in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas has announced that dozens of prisoners have been killed in random Israeli raids.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 149,000 Palestinians martyred and injured, mostly children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine which killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.