The Israeli negotiating delegation for a hostage deal will leave on Sunday for Cairo despite the escalation up north. The delegation is expected to include Mossad chief Dedi Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and Major General Nitzan Alon, who coordinates the issue of hostages for the IDF.
Senior security officials in Israel say that with the delegation’s current mandate from Prime Minister Netanyahu a deal with Hamas is not conceivable. A week ago on Friday, the United States offered a new proposal that it said bridged the gap between Israel and Hamas and was approved by Egypt and Qatar. The three mediators said the latest proposal “allows for a swift implementation of the deal,” to be sealed today, Sunday, in Cairo.
However, sources who commented on the details to Israeli media expect problems regarding the number of hostages Hamas is willing to release. Hamas clarified that it had fewer than 20 live hostages who qualify under the American mediation offer. On the other hand, Israel insists on maximizing the number of live hostages that will be released, including the five female soldiers held by Hamas, as well as Hisham Asayed and Avra Mengistu.
The other bone of contention is the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, where Hamas insists on a full IDF withdrawal and Israel is only willing to reduce the number of troops. Israel is well aware that on the other side of the Egyptian border, there are thousands of armed volunteers, as well as weapons and ammunition, ready to cross over as soon as the IDF withdraws. The argument being advanced these days by the security establishment in Israel, as if the army can return to Philadelphi in a matter of days is inane, to say the least. This was exactly the claim that was made by the same security establishment officials ahead of the expulsion of thousands of Jews and the removal of the IDF contingency from the Gaza Strip and the Philadelphi corridor. Nineteen years later, those reassurances resulted in the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu believes, according to people in his circle, that Yahya Sinwar wants either a recovery of Hamas and its rule over Gaza – to be made possible by the IDF’s withdrawal, or a regional war, which he had hoped for on October 7, but was disappointed by his more cautious Shiite partners in Lebanon and Iran.
