Israeli opposition leader calls for hostage swap deal, demands Netanyahu stop sabotaging efforts

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Tuesday for an end to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to “sabotage” talks aimed at reaching a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap deal with Hamas.

“All of Netanyahu's attempts to sabotage the negotiations should stop. Deal now, before they (captives) all die,” Lapid said on X.

The Israeli army on Tuesday retrieved the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israel estimates that around 110 Israelis are held in Gaza, with Hamas saying that many captives were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave.

In early June, the Israeli army rescued four captives alive from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, in an operation that resulted in the death of over 210 Palestinian civilians due to heavy artillery and airstrikes.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’s demands to stop the war.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last Oct. 7 by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has resulted in over 40,170 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and more than 92,740 injuries, according to local health authorities.

The ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala