US and Israeli officials said that President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that in any new hostage agreement, Israel may have to release more Palestinian prisoners for each hostage released than it did in the previous pause in fighting in Gaza.
While US officials say that Biden agrees with Netanyahu that Hamas’s demand to release thousands of prisoners, including many convicted of killing Israelis, is exaggerated, the US President also believes that Israel can show more flexibility on this issue.
This is partly because at least a fifth of the approximately 40 women, children, elderly and wounded who could be released are female soldiers.
According to Axios, Netanyahu told Biden during their phone call on Sunday that “contrary to some reports in the Israeli press,” he wants to reach a new hostage deal, but stressed that it must be an agreement that can be passed in the Israeli government, officials said. Americans and Israelis.
Netanyahu noted that the proposal agreed to by the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt in Paris two weeks ago was “very generous” because Tel Aviv agreed to more than 10 times the number of days to stop fighting than in the first part of the previous hostage deal.
Paris’s proposal includes stopping the fighting for a period of six weeks in exchange for the release of about 40 hostages within the framework of the first phase of the agreement.
According to Netanyahu, Israel is prepared to release three Palestinians for every Israeli hostage released, which is the same ratio used in the previous agreement, according to American and Israeli officials.
According to the officials, Biden agreed with Netanyahu that Hamas’s demand was too much, but he said that since these are negotiations, Israel may have to release more Palestinian prisoners at a higher rate than in the previous deal.
Axios quoted a well-informed American official as saying, “The percentage is still an outstanding issue,” adding that “no firm positions regarding the call were discussed by either leader other than the possible paths.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the Axios report.
CIA Director William Burns met in Cairo on Tuesday with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel to discuss the hostage deal.
Only on Monday did Netanyahu make the final decision to send the Israeli delegation, and the decision came after Biden asked the Israeli official in their phone call on Sunday to send a delegation to Cairo.
Major General Nitzan Alon, who is in charge of the hostage issue in the Israeli army, decided not to join the delegation after Netanyahu refused to grant the negotiating team a mandate to present new ideas, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The sources said that during the preparatory discussions for the trip to Cairo, Alon proposed a specific path for the talks, but Netanyahu rejected the ideas and instructed the delegation to listen only, which a prominent Israeli official commented on to “Axios,” saying: “For just listening, two ears are enough, you don’t need 12.”
However, Netanyahu sent one of his political aides, Ofir Falk, with the delegation, indicating that he wanted to ensure that the negotiators carried out his instructions and did not present new ideas without his approval, the sources said.
#Gaza #truce #negotiations #hostages.. #leaks #Israeli #position
2024-02-14 01:04:36
