Netanyahu stalled hostage swap deal with Hamas to satisfy Ben-Gvir, Smotrich: Report

By Khaled Yousef

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost an opportunity to reach a hostage swap deal with Hamas in July in order to appease his far-right coalition partners National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported Sunday.

According to the report, Hamas was willing to release several Israeli hostages without demanding a full cease-fire in return. The report suggested that Hamas’s willingness at the time was an attempt to link the first and second phases of a US cease-fire proposal which included humanitarian aid.

The report did not provide further details, however, although Hamas has repeatedly said that it would only release the Israeli captives if the deal resulted in a complete cessation of Israel's assault on Gaza.

At the time, the US proposal included three phases: the first involved an immediate cease-fire; the release of women, the elderly and the wounded Israeli hostages; and a prisoner exchange as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza. It also included increasing humanitarian aid, rebuilding basic services and facilitating the return of civilians to their homes across Gaza.

The second phase required the release of all remaining hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, aiming to end the crisis definitively.

The third phase involved the reconstruction of Gaza over several years and the return of Israeli soldiers' remains.

KAN said that Netanyahu rejected the proposal, particularly opposing the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, with areas like the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim axis becoming obstacles to the cease-fire process.

An unnamed Israeli source quoted by the broadcaster said that Netanyahu's refusal to accept the deal was to satisfy Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, who had threatened to leave the government if the deal was signed.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt and Qatar have so far failed to achieve a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal, but Washington maintains that Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Oct. 16 may lead to a breakthrough in the talks.

Hamas, however, says the conflict will only end when Israel stops its military campaign in the blockaded enclave, which has killed nearly 44,000 people since October 2023.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with figures and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its brutal war on Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala