Israel – Nitzan Alon, the Israeli army’s representative in the prisoner exchange deal with Palestinian factions, asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for additional flexibility in the deal negotiations after the deterioration of the prisoners’ detention conditions and the demonstrations of their families.
Channel 12 quoted Alon as saying: “The chaos caused by the ground maneuver makes the conditions of the prisoners’ detention more severe and affects our ability to know their status and fate.”
The channel reported that the families of the kidnapped people marched as demonstrators from Independence House in Tel Aviv towards the kidnapped people’s square, chanting to the negotiating team in Qatar, “Don’t go back without an agreement! Negotiate until white smoke comes out,” stressing that “the deal does not pose a security threat.”
According to the channel, the official spokesman for the Israeli army, Daniel Hagari, confirmed that “work is underway to recover 115 hostages as soon as possible.”
The Israeli army carried out a rescue mission last June, which saw the release of four prisoners in relatively good condition compared to their eight-month captivity, from two different locations in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza.
The Israeli army confirmed the death of 39 of the 111 hostages still being held by Palestinian factions since October 7.
Media reports had previously said that only 40 prisoners were alive, but these estimates are outdated and no longer valid following the military operations launched by the Israeli army in more than one place in the Gaza Strip.
“The argument that prisoners are suffering but not dying does not stand up to scrutiny,” said a senior Israeli security official, referring to comments attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a cabinet meeting last July.
This comes after the United States, Egypt and Qatar, mediators in the ceasefire talks, issued a joint statement calling for the deal to be completed without delay.
“It is time to provide immediate relief to both the long-suffering people of Gaza and the long-suffering hostages and their families. It is time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release the hostages,” the tripartite statement said.
In this context, the father of one of the prisoners said earlier, “Every time we get closer to concluding a swap deal, Netanyahu sabotages it with an operation to please two bloodthirsty ministers,” referring to the two extremist ministers in the Israeli government, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Source: RT
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2024-08-16 16:47:56
