Israel’s Netanyahu adds new conditions to proposed Gaza hostage swap deal

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has added new conditions to a proposed hostage swap deal with Hamas, including exiling around 150 Palestinian prisoners from the country, local media reported Sunday.

Among the conditions is the deportation of some Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israeli prisons to foreign countries, Israel’s Channel 13 reported, citing unnamed sources.

According to the sources, the prisoners, which number around 150, are accused of killing Israelis.

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 the Gaza Strip.

But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’s demands to stop the war.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Nearly 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala