An Israeli hostage negotiating team arrived in Cairo on Saturday afternoon, according to Israeli media, amid speculation that the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday had harmed the chances of releasing the captives and persistent accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sabotaging a possible agreement.
The Prime Minister’s Office shot back at the sharp critiques of Netanyahu, charging that Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was sabotaging the efforts.
“Sinwar is the obstacle to the agreement, not the prime minister,” the PMO said Friday evening.
Netanyahu “is willing to go a long way to release our precious captives while maintaining Israel’s security and preventing conditions that would allow Hamas to regain control of the Gaza Strip, threaten Israel, and resume the atrocities of October 7,” it stated.
To prove that point, it announced that the prime minister had “ordered the negotiating team to leave for Cairo.”
The last round of talks led by CIA Director William Burns took place in Rome with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel. The Israeli team, headed by Mossad chief David Barnea, presented Israel’s clarifications to the three-phase proposal that US President Joe Biden had unveiled on May 31 to free the remaining 115 captives.
In addition to Barnea, the Israeli team that arrived in Cairo on Saturday included Ronen Bar, director of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service). While there, the team’s members are expected to meet with Kamel.
Israeli security forces have been at odds with Netanyahu over the clarifications, which the prime minister has insisted fall within the framework of Biden’s May 31 proposal.
Security forces believe that Netanyahu can afford to be more flexible.
In this context, the PMO issued an unusual statement on the matter just after the start of Shabbat in response to media reports on disagreements between Netanyahu’s office and security officials.
Specifically, it was a direct response to a Friday N12 news site report about the deep divisions between the prime minister and security officials, including those on his negotiation team.
According to the news channel, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon accused Netanyahu of insisting on clarifications to the deal that he knew would be rejected.
“You know that all the parameters you added will not be accepted and there will be no deal,” Alon was reported as saying. “There is nothing to go on.”
On his part, referring to the original May 31 proposal, Barnea purportedly told Netanyahu, “There is a deal. If we delay, we may miss the opportunity. We have to take it.”
The PMO dismissed N12’s report of the conversation as inexact.
“The report is incorrect. The head of the Mossad did not say that there is a ready deal that needs to be accepted,” it stipulated.
“The statement that ‘Hamas supposedly agreed to the terms of the deal’ is false. It is still unclear if Hamas has even backed down from its demand that Israel commit to ending the war, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and refrain from returning to fighting,” the office said in regard to the status of the current hostage deal agreement.
“Moreover, no agreement has yet been reached on the number of living hostages to be released” in the first phase of the deal, it continued. Nor was there an understanding in place regarding “Israel’s presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a mechanism to prevent the entry of terrorists and weapons from the Netzarim route, and other important details.”
Has Netanyahu made changes to the original deal?
The PMO also addressed claims that Netanyahu was trying to change and make additions to the deal proposal, which resulted in a delay in striking a deal.
“All the demands that Israel insists on are in accordance with the [Biden] framework. Contrary to what is claimed, the prime minister did not add anything to these demands – it is Hamas that demanded dozens of changes to the framework.”
N12’s report also claimed that Netanyahu angrily responded to the allegations, saying, “You are scumbags. You don’t know how to negotiate. You are putting words in my mouth. Instead of putting pressure on me, pressure Sinwar.”
The channel’s feature ended with senior officials in the security system claiming that “Netanyahu does not want a deal at this time. He refuses to budge, even though we made it clear to him that [Israel’s] defense system knows how to deal with the implications of a deal. He gave up on the hostages.”